Friday, November 13, 2009

A common marketing mistake

I love seeing an advertising campaign that was meant to convey a particular message, but which could be taken to mean something else entirely. Especially when the unintended meaning is the exact opposite of the message that the advertiser would want to be express.
For instance, check out this billboard for the Toronto Star newspaper:
The Toronto Star: Helpful or condescending?
It's a bit blurry, so in case you can't see it, the slogan is "Until common sense is actually common."
I assume that they mean "as long as things happen because of people (such as those in government) failing to use common sense, we will report those things." But my first thought was that it might mean "until the general population has enough common sense to make up their own minds about things rather than reading our slanted, biased views, we shall continue to spread our propaganda."
I think mine is probably more accurate, but still not what they meant.

1 comment:

AmyMusings said...

HA! I think yours is probably more accurate, too. I saw a flyer in the male today for pet grooming. It said "Grooms $10 off!" I am already married, but it can't hurt to tuck that information away.

I always hear about sales AFTER it's too late.