A few days ago, this ad appeared on a website I was visiting:
Since “unstoppable” is misspelled, my first reaction was to save the image so I could rant about it here. But upon further research, I discovered that the misspelling wasn’t limited to the ad above.
Of course, I had to get to the bottom of this–what true grammar snob could sleep at night without figuring out what went wrong? According to an About.com product review, Downy claims that the product is so powerful it doesn’t need the second “p” in the word “unstoppable.”
Huh?
I hope this marketing ploy has worked for them, because they certainly aren’t getting my business. Using this product would make me feel like a traitor. What are your thoughts on misspelling as a form of marketing?
Grammaniac 
If it’s done in a clever way, I don’t mind, for example if they misspell in order to create a pun. Here it rather seems like the graphic designer messed up and a clever copywriter found a way to spin it as if it were intentional.
Agree. Not completely opposed to the concept, but in this case I think it was either an error that they’re now having to spin, or the designer liked the way it fit on the packaging better without the second p, and the spin started from there. In any case, ugh.
I truly feel they got lucky by misspelling a word containing a double letter. The whole thing just seems fishy to me!
I don’t think it will work with unstopable….people are going to say to themselves
“un stow pa bull : and then they will say huh? just like you did!
(my grammar and punctuation errors were deliberate)
That’s exactly how I pronounce it in my mind every time I read it! Grr.
I work in Marketing and I definitely can’t stand when words are misspelled as a form of advertising. Case in point, Dunkin’ Donuts and their addition of an extra ‘D’ to various words in their ads, such as “what are you DDrinkin’?” UGH. If anyone suggests a misspelling in content at work, I quit.
Ewwwww, that’s just awful.
Would someone tell these marketing agencies to Stoop ! Or, is that what they are doing? If it is, I have not erred grammatically.
Later….
You have not erred grammatically…
With all of the eyes that peruse this information, I can’t believe misspellings slip through like this. I can’t stand it! Can’t someone use a dictionary, at least?
If it was truly powerful they would remove all the letters except for those spelling ‘able’.
I just recently discovered your blog and I love it!! I have always taken issue with poor grammar and spelling, and totally relate to your frustration. I have also passed that lovely quality on to my 14 year old son and we bond over others’ grammatical inadequacies.
Your current example in the Downy product will also send me to buy Snuggle instead, even if I have a Downy coupon!
I have to agree with you here. I despise, nay, loathe, when ads are shoddily done, or worse, purposely horrible.
I would not use this product for the sheer fact that I would -have- to buy a Sharpie marker, in purple of course, and write the second P in there.
My OCD senses are tingling.
Reblogged this on Walk With A Witch and commented:
MY OCD SENSES ARE TINGLING. Oh my FRACK.