1982.I don't go on about it much, but I'm quite the snot about copywriting. I just do it for free: on my blog, in my diary, and other appropriate places.
I try to write like I talk. I also try to talk like I write.
Well, if there's anyone in America who's more anal than an inveterate diarist who's married to one of the original grammar and spelling Nazis, it's J. Alfred Proofreader who, with respect to this banner ad:
Wrote the following scathing review:
Wow ... Rachael Ray's name was the second most misspelled word?
How many of those were looking for them FHM photos she did (rrrowr!!!111!!!)
Have some laffs at some inattentive copywriters' expense: read The Copy Edits Of J. Alfred Proofreader and be thankful you aren't one of the targets of his yellow highlighter.
(content lifted from J. Alfred because it was too good not to share, with apologies)
Technorati Tags: Writing, Copywriting, Bad Copywriting, J. Alfred Proofreader
I try to write like I talk. I also try to talk like I write.
Well, if there's anyone in America who's more anal than an inveterate diarist who's married to one of the original grammar and spelling Nazis, it's J. Alfred Proofreader who, with respect to this banner ad:
Wrote the following scathing review:
As you can see in the screen shot highlighted above, the word guarantee was butchered by ad copy writers and editors. They misspelled it "guarentee." If they were trying to be intellectual and distinguished, they could have gone with guaranty, a variable and accepted form of the word.
Also, a hyphen should be separating the words "money" and "back" rather than a space. Interestingly, the people behind this ad copy managed to correctly spell Rachael Ray's name, which, evidently, is no easy task. According to Yahoo.com, in 2007, Rachael Ray's name was the second-most misspelled word typed into Yahoo Web searches. Yet, the correct spelling of guarantee still eludes these advertisers.
Wow ... Rachael Ray's name was the second most misspelled word?
How many of those were looking for them FHM photos she did (rrrowr!!!111!!!)
Have some laffs at some inattentive copywriters' expense: read The Copy Edits Of J. Alfred Proofreader and be thankful you aren't one of the targets of his yellow highlighter.
(content lifted from J. Alfred because it was too good not to share, with apologies)
Technorati Tags: Writing, Copywriting, Bad Copywriting, J. Alfred Proofreader
4 comments:
Thanks for the plug, Sam. Much appreciated. And stay tuned...my highlighter is always busy!
I can read what I have written fifty times and still miss errors that Peggy catches the first time. I think, with me, it's a matter of seeing what I expect to see rather than what is there.
@ J.Alfred:
Glad you appreciated the ref. I completely believe in what you're doing. You keep up that work, boy!
@ Snowbrush:
I have a wife, as I said, is a spelling and grammar Gestapo charter member. If I wonder about something that I've written, she catches it every time.
Your remark about it being "what you exepect to see" has the right of it, I think. Sometimes I think our mind has a mind of its own; it will filter the incorrect to make it look correct based on how much we want to see is right.
We are our own worst enemies in this wise, it seems. Having more eyes keeps it more real.
I think I know why there's solipsism, but that's way outside my brain to compute, so I'll jsut leave it at that!
"Your remark about it being "what you exepect to see" has the right of it, I think. "
Exactly, if I don't exepect no errors, I don't see none.
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