Marketing Fail: Three Ads That Have Failed in the Grammar Department

1. Scarlett Johansson and SodaStream

In her 2014 Super Bowl ad for SodaStream, Scarlett Johansson promises a "soda that's better for you and all of us. Less sugar, less bottles." The correct version of this would be "Less sugar, fewer bottles." Fewer is used with countable objects: There are fewer blocks in Jamie's basket than in Karen's. Less is used with uncountable concepts: It is less humid today. We'll let it go this time, ScarJo, but only because of your environmentally friendly intentions.

2. Old Navy

In 2011, Old Navy had to send back an entire shipment of sports team t-shirts because the lettering—"Lets Go!"—omitted the apostrophe before the "s." The correct version of these t-shirts would have said, "Let's Go!" Now let's go and find the person who was responsible for manufacturing these shirts and give him or her a grammar lesson and a consolatory hug.

3. Victoria's Secret 

Last year, Victoria's Secret dropped an unnecessary apostrophe in its Secret Body campaign. It read: "You've never seen body's like this!" The correct version would be, "You've never seen bodies like this!" Luckily, since it was Victoria's Secret, most of the ad's viewers were probably distracted and failed to notice the missing punctuation.

If you're a marketer and the risk of committing grammar fails such as these strikes fear into your heart, consider putting your marketing copy through a professional business editing service to gain some peace of mind and avoid ending up on a list like this one!

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