Just in case you missed it, online fashion retailer asos gave us all a masterclass in how to own up to a spelling mistake in style. The company inadvertently made a spelling mistake when printing a prominent promotional message on its bags used for shipments of online orders. This was supposed to read, “asos – discover fashion online” but due to a typo, mistakenly said “onilne”. (Imagine being the employee responsible for that one).
Realising the blunder, asos owned up and tweeted a picture of the plastic bag alongside the caption, “OK, so we *may* have printed 17,000 bags with a typo. We’re calling it a limited edition.”
Honesty and humour win plaudits
The company has been widely applauded for turning adversity to its advantage, receiving more than 28,000 likes and 4,500 retweets. Meanwhile, the retailer has won new fans. “I love shopping onilne” one person joked, while another added, “Watch eBay go mad with people selling them for thousands of pounds”. Some shoppers even admitted they were tempted to place an order in the hope of getting their hands on one. “This makes me love you guys even more and now I want one of those bags,” one person wrote. Some even contributed their own spelling boo boos with one woman admitting, “I work in fashion as well….I think we’ve had our share of typos like “shite shirt” instead of “white shirt”.”
So instead of having to pulp the faulty bags, with all the environmental and cost implications this would entail, the clever brand’s quick thinking has bagged it publicity to die for and the approval of customers who are now fighting to get hold of the misspelt bags. Bravo!
