15 Embarrassing Spelling & Grammar Mistakes That Make Big Brands Look Bad

In our fast-paced digital world, the pressure to push out new content quickly is higher than ever. But in the rush to be timely and relevant, even the biggest brands can let some cringeworthy spelling and grammar mistakes slip through the cracks.

While the occasional typo may seem like no big deal, consistent errors can have a real impact on your brand‘s reputation and bottom line. In fact, a study by Website Planet found that:

• A single spelling or grammar mistake on an e-commerce site can cut sales in half
• 3 or more errors can decrease sales by up to 85%
• 67.5% of consumers would not make a purchase from a website with poor grammar

Yikes. If that doesn‘t convince you to proofread, I don‘t know what will! Your writing is often the first impression people have of your brand – make sure it‘s a good one.

Why Good Writing Matters in Marketing

In content marketing, your words are your most valuable asset. You rely on them to capture attention, convey your message, and persuade your audience to take action. So if your writing is riddled with errors, it undermines your credibility and effectiveness on all fronts.

1. Professionalism & Trust

Would you trust a doctor who couldn‘t spell "prescription"? How about a financial advisor who mixed up "your" and "you‘re"? Probably not.

The same goes for brands. Sloppy writing signals a lack of attention to detail, which makes people wonder what else you‘re letting slip through the cracks. In industries like healthcare, finance, and law, even a small mistake can erode trust and credibility.

2. Clarity & Comprehension

Spelling and grammar exist for a reason – to make language clear and understandable. When you break those rules, you force your audience to work harder to decipher your meaning.

A study by CXL Institute found that bad grammar actually makes people spend more time processing content and can even hamper reading comprehension.

That‘s the last thing you want when attention spans are shorter than ever. Clean, correct writing ensures your message comes through loud and clear.

3. Brand Voice & Authority

Using proper spelling, punctuation and syntax show that you know your stuff. It positions you as a knowledgeable, credible authority in your space.

On the flip side, a post full of misused homophones and misplaced apostrophes makes you look unprofessional and even a bit clueless. Not exactly the image most brands are going for!

15 Worst Offenders from Big Brands

Now that we‘ve established the stakes, let‘s take a look at some real-world examples of brand blunders. From social posts to billboards to product packaging, no medium is safe from the Grammar Police.

Get ready to groan with second-hand embarrassment at these spelling and grammar fails!

1. Burger King: "Angus Buger"

In 2002, Burger King introduced a new line of premium Angus beef burgers. But unfortunately, a typo on their billboards boasted about their "Angus Buger" offerings instead.

Not only is the spelling mistake itself pretty cringeworthy, but the unintentional innuendo created by removing the ‘r‘ made things even worse! BK was the butt (or should I say "buger") of the joke for a while after this.

2. The White House: "Unpresidented"

That‘s right, even the White House isn‘t immune to social media spelling slips. In 2016, a tweet sent out from the official POTUS account read:

"China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters – rips it out of water and takes it to China in unpresidented act."

Unprecedented indeed – it‘s not every day you see such an egregious typo from the leader of the free world! Donald Trump, the president at the time, was widely mocked for this mistake.

3. H&M: "Genious"

H&M tried to celebrate genius style with this ad, but ended up looking rather foolish themselves when they misspelled the word as "genious".

This is a common error, but one would hope a major international retailer could avoid it. It just goes to show, always double check your campaign graphics before you hit print!

4. American Apparel: "Now Open Everyday"

Here‘s a case where a company tried to casually bend the rules of grammar, but broke them instead. "Everyday" (one word) is an adjective that means commonplace or ordinary, while "every day" (two words) refers to something that happens each day.

So when American Apparel excitedly announced that their stores were "Now Open Everyday!" they were actually saying their stores were commonplace and ordinary. Not exactly the grand opening message they were going for!

5. Victoria‘s Secret: "You‘ve never seen body‘s like this!"

Victoria‘s real secret? Apparently she never learned how to make words plural! The wayward apostrophe in "body‘s" makes it possessive, not plural.

With this many errors in one small Facebook post, it‘s no wonder the audience was too distracted to appreciate the "body‘s" on display.

6. Old Navy: "Let‘s Go!"

In a misguided attempt at being casual and conversational, Old Navy‘s "Let‘s Go!" campaign forgot one crucial punctuation mark – the apostrophe.

"Let‘s" is a contraction of "let us", so without the apostrophe, the phrase reads as a command: "Let us go!" Maybe not the fun, friendly vibe Old Navy was after.

7. Mitt Romney: "A Better Amercia"

What‘s more patriotic than an iPhone app filled with inspirational photos honoring America? Just one problem – the app name itself misspelled America as "Amercia".

Needless to say, this flub didn‘t exactly help Mitt Romney‘s presidential campaign. Looks like his team should‘ve made amerciain they proofread!

8. Yahoo!: "Marissa Meyer named Yahoo! CEO"

Nothing says "Welcome to the team!" like misspelling your new CEO‘s name in your own press release headline. "Meyer" vs. "Mayer" may seem like a small difference, but the devil is in the details!

Moral of the story – always triple check names, especially when it‘s your boss!

9. Lush Cosmetics: "Can‘t wait to bathe in crystals & good vibes"

To promote their new seasonal bath bomb collection, Lush posted a dreamy photo of a bathtub with the caption "Can‘t wait to bathe in crystals & good vibes."

Except instead of "can‘t", they wrote "cant" – which is actually a real word, meaning "hypocritical" or "sanctimonious talk". How‘s that for some ironic bathroom reading?

10. McDonald‘s: "1/3 Punder Buger"

Here‘s a rare double whammy – messing up both the product name and the description! On a big digital sign advertising the new 1/3 pound burger, McDonald‘s managed to misspell "pound" as "pund" and "burger" as "buger".

No wonder these "punder bugers" didn‘t catch on with customers; they were probably a bigger mouthful to pronounce than to eat!

How to Avoid Embarrassing Writing Mistakes

Now that we‘ve had a good chuckle, let‘s get serious. As funny as these flubs are, I‘m sure the brands behind them were blushing! So how can you avoid ending up on a list like this? Try these tips:

1. Always proofread – This may seem obvious, but it‘s often skipped in the rush to publish. Build in time for a thorough final review, preferably with a fresh set of eyes.

2. Use editing tools – While human proofreading is ideal, tools like Grammarly can help you catch easy-to-miss mistakes. Just don‘t rely on them exclusively, as AI can miss context and nuance.

3. Refer to a style guide – Create a company-wide writing style guide that covers common mistakes and how to avoid them. It‘s a great reference for maintaining consistency.

4. Check small details – Pay extra attention to tricky little things like names, numbers, links, and punctuation marks. One misplaced letter can make a world of difference!

5. When in doubt, look it up – Dictionaries, grammar handbooks, and online resources are your best friends. If you‘re shaky on a spelling or rule, take the time to double check it before publishing.

6. Train your whole team – Make sure everyone who writes public-facing copy, from social media managers to billboard designers, knows the importance of good writing and how to QA their work.

7. Test before you send – For big campaigns, consider doing a small test with a focus group to collect feedback and catch any errors you may have missed. An outside perspective is invaluable!

Final Thoughts

In our content-saturated world, competition for audience attention is fierce. You can‘t afford to let something as simple as a spelling mistake undermine your message and credibility!

While the occasional typo is human, consistent errors will make people doubt your authority and attention to detail. It‘s hard to position yourself as an expert when you can‘t even master basic writing mechanics.

The good news is, this is a totally preventable problem. By making editing and proofreading a non-negotiable part of your process, you can publish polished, professional content with confidence.

Remember, good writing isn‘t about being fancy or verbose – it‘s about being clear, correct, and compelling. Treat your words with care and your audience will notice.

Because at the end of the day, writing is your brand‘s voice. You want that voice to be eloquent, not embarrassing!