Comments on: Three Reasons Why Copywriters Should Always Check the Finished Product. Always.

By: Tom Chandler

Tom Chandler — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:18:17 +0000

Stephanie: Huge signage in locations all over the country directed consumers to call a sex hotline.

Suddenly, you're the intimate apparel brand that delivers far more than Victoria's Secrets...

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:58:29 +0000

I used to work for an Intimates Apparel Brand. I wrote copy for signage that the Marketing Specialist would add the phone number to. It was a last minute rush and no one verified the number before it went to print. Well, the number was wrong. Huge signage in locations all over the country directed consumers to call a sex hotline.

By: Tom Chandler

Tom Chandler — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 18:53:44 +0000

Ouch.

I don’t want to duck responsibility for accuracy, but as deadlines have accelerated and projects come thick and fast, the opportunity to get smaller gigs proofread has largely disappeared.

And with the online world mainlining content, the production process provides fewer checks and balances.

I guess we’d better get used to it.

By: Craig Mewbourne

Craig Mewbourne — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 17:39:04 +0000

Last summer I inverted the 800/866# prefix in a series of Who’s Calling response numbers for five versions of newspaper advertorial for a client selling homesites. Dumb. Careless. It resulted in a suspension without salary. On the bright side, I was soon inspired to write a short story based on the experiences of a disgruntled valet.
(ugh)

By: Tom Chandler

Tom Chandler — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 01:24:17 +0000

Good. You got lucky. Mistakes like that are embarrassing and expensive…

By: Nathania Johnson

Nathania Johnson — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 02:55:14 +0000

Years ago, when I worked for a political consulting firm, I was laying out the design for a piece of voter mail that included pictures of significant political figures in the state of NC who were endorsing a client. Fairly new to politics, I didn’t know all the faces that went with names I’d heard and read about.

Long story short, the piece was about to be shipped when our printer noticed that a former governor had been misidentified. OOPS. Thankfully, we got the correct version out the door – in the knick of time and the client won the race. But phew – it was a close call!