Divine Write Copywriting Forum

Okay, everyone makes mistakes, including me. But I do my best to edit, re-edit, and edit again.

I personally find it amazing to find as many spelling mistakes as I do, even while walking down a city street and reading the sandwich boards. I almost feel compelled to go into the business and tell them there is a mistake. I did that once and it wasn't well received, despite my pleasant manner and big smile. :-)

I guess the fact he had paid several hundred dollars for advertising that had misspelled his slogan was enough to set him off. How is it possible that so many eyes had missed it?

I find it just as amazing to hear grammatical errors on TV ads. Air-time costs so much, it's a shame they don't spend a fraction more on good copywriters!

On the topic of spelling - here's a question that deals with writing for the web & the differences in spelling from country to country. Which form of the word (this is just 1 example) do you use: color or colour (I assume that Google is smart enough to know the difference but then that might be a mistake on my part).

labor, labour
personalise, personalize
rationalise, rationalize
check, cheque

?
Jill

Hi mmvp. While I think you're right (Google can tell the difference), in most cases, Google wouldn't play a part in your decision. You just need to know who you're writing for. US audiences expect US spelling (e.g. color, rationalize). You simply meet that expectation. This will work for Google too because US audiences will search in US English. Likewise, if you're writing to for a British, Australian, NZ (or other Commonwealth) audience, use British English. It's the 'in-between' audiences that are tricky: like Canada. They part of the Commonwealth, but being so close to the US, I'm not sure what they prefer. I suspect there are studies out there that answer this question, though. I think US English is most common in Canada, but wouldn't put money on it! I always find Asian countries the trickiest...

I just finished a job located in HK. They stipulated US English. This surprised me given their history. I know that's not always the case there. As for Canada, I believe you're right but they seem to recognise both - at least on sites I've visited.

I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the Asian countries associate US English with progress (particularly online). But then again, they may just want to target one of the richest markets in the world!

G'day guys,

I had someone in one of my copywriting courses recently say they thought "programme" sounded snobby!

Traditionally UK English spells it as above, while USA English spells it as "program".

Have you found (as I have) that "program" is being used more in Australia now than "programme"?

Paul

But then, if you started using the former again, you'd being seeing the latter less often!

<sorry, couldn't help myself>

Gioff