Chances are that your proofreading skills aren’t quite perfect. Therefore, it is always a wise idea to hire an editor. Don’t believe us? Take a look at three ultra-embarrassing writing errors.
1. “A Better Amercia.” Back in the midst of the 2012 presidential election, the Mitt Romney campaign thought an app would be a great way to drum up support for the Republican candidate. Mitt Romney’s American App was born, giving users the chance to post pictures of themselves with one of fourteen Romney campaign slogans. There was just one little problem. One of the slogans misspelled “America,” reading “A Better Amercia.” A spokesman for the Romney campaign was quick to announce that a corrected version of the app had been sent to Apple shortly after the whole debacle ended up in the press, adding that “mistakes happen.” Sure, mistakes happen. But when a presidential campaign misspells the name of the very country it is hoping to run, it is a whole lot more embarrassing than your run-of-the-mill spelling error.
2. “West Virgina.” Back in 2007, the West Virginia Mountaineers basketball team won the National Invitation Tournament, beating out Clemson in the finals with a 78-73 victory. The team decided to celebrate the victory with championship T-shirts. Unfortunately, however, someone left the “i” out of Virginia. University officials said the NIT printed the shirts and denied responsibility. No matter who was responsible, the moral of the story is clear: Don’t trust your graphic designer to proofread. Nothing detracts from a cool design quite like a glaring typo. Please, hire an editor.
3. “Excellance for All.” Back in 2008, the British Labour Party was gearing up for elections. In order to engage voters, the party launched a new website, promising “Excellance for All.” The Labour Party’s performance was poor overall; it lost 334 councilors, while the Conservative Party gained 257. Was it a result of poor grammar? We will never know, but the next time elections are around the corner, the party should probably play it safe and hire a professional writer.