Whoops! 3 Very Public Spelling Mistakes

As a writer, I understand the importance of proofreading and how a spelling or grammar mistake can cause confusion or make you or your company look unprofessional. I also know that everyone is human, and mistakes are inevitably going to happen at one time or another.

Your audience can overlook smaller spelling or grammatical errors, and these errors will not do much damage to your brand. But then there are larger and more obvious spelling or grammatical errors that can be completely damaging, and the following are three very public spelling mistakes that caused some major embarrassment for these companies.

1. South Bend Public Schools

The South Bend Public Schools in Indiana thought it would be a good idea to market their schools by placing a billboard on one of the busiest highways in the state. The purpose of the billboard was to intrigue passersby and get them to check out their website. This was a good idea, but there was one small problem—South Bend misspelled public, and instead told passersby why their “pubic” schools were a good choice.

Photo credit: Adweek

2. Marta Valle High School

In order to keep drivers cautious of their surroundings while driving through a school zone, the Department of Transportation or certain utility companies in most areas will paint a “School X-ing” sign on the street. Just outside Marta Valle High School in Manhattan, New York, though, the utility company in charge of the sign made a blatant spelling mistake. Instead of SCHOOL X-ING, they painted SHCOOL X-ING.

Photo credit: ABC News

3. Fox 40 News

Like most news stations, Fox 40 News in Sacramento, California quickly reported on the US Navy SEALs’ killing of Osama bin Laden. Unfortunately for this news station, those responsible for placing content on the screen didn’t have their information proofed, as the copy in the news slider read “Obama bin Laden”.

Photo credit: Metro

Kristi Munno
Copywriter | Content Management Specialist
With over six years of professional writing experience, Kristi is a published author who expertly communicates on the importance of content in business and marketing.