Am I being unreasonable to expect marketing/PR people to be able to spell/use grammar properly?

[sleepychunky]

I work for a charity and am in charge of corporate relationships. I am just announcing a new partnership with a well-known department store and was asked to send over the text I wanted to put on our website. This is what I sent them:

"Staff will be helping xxx through fundraising activities as well as offering their time and skills to assist XXX in other areas of its work."

and this is what was sent back:

"Staff will be helping xxx through fund-raising activities as well as offering their time and skills to assist xxx in other areas of it's work."

Needless to say I won't be changing what I wrote...

[barnstaple]

YABU - they're marketing and PR people! They will get it wrong because they are ignorant, otherwise they would be doing jobs which are meaningful.

[margoandjerry]

YABU - they are dimwits!

That's why Colgate ran a series of billboards saying "99% of dental practises use Colgate".

Also, recently on Liberty's window: "to compliment the China exhibition at the V&A we are now blah blah blah....".

A marketing person wrote that but what's almost worse is that in each case it would have been cleared by managers, heads of brand, sent off to printers, proof read, checked reprographics etc etc

[PinkPussyCat]

Oooooh barnstaple!

I know what you mean though sleepy, I was looking through the details of a property we were about to view and they had described it as 'In stunnung order'.

ffs

[MrsBadger]

YABU - Barnstaple is spot on

ditto designers (have had terrible trouble with errors introduced into copy etc) - apparently they do pictures because they can't do words

[Tigerschick]

Totally agree with MargoandJerry's point about the number of other people who have to pass things before they appear in the pulic domain ... at least you have the wit to stop the bad grammar before it's too late!
Also agree with barnstaple.

[JoshandJamie]

Barnstaple I assume that you save the planet, feed starving children and discover cures for terminal diseases for a living?

And yes, in case you're wondering, I am in PR. It puts a roof over our head. Sue me.

To the OP - yes, keep your original but if you'd like to keep the corporate relationship, I wouldn't point it out to them.

[MrsBadger]

actually I do discover cures for terminal diseases for a living
[not kidding]

and I can use apostrophes

[sleepychunky]

JoshandJamie - I really really wanted to point it out to them but my kind and generous nature overtook my pedantry [hmmm]

[sleepychunky]

that should be

[hatwoman]

do you know what sleepy? they were desperate to justify their existence so they had to change something. pretty gob-smacking that they actively "corrected" something that was correct turning it into something that was wrong.

[JoshandJamie]

Sleepychunky - to answer your original question, no it's not unreasonable to expect PR/marketing people to know how to spell / use grammar.

But just because there are some idiots out there, doesn't mean we all need to tarred with the same brush.

[sleepychunky]

JandJ I completely agree with you - there are idiots in every job in the world. I just feel that people in jobs which involve presenting information to the public should know what is correct and what is not, which you obviously do. I just get very at people who try to change something which I know is right.

[barnstaple]

No Josh, I don't do any of those things. I only teach autistic children how to interact with, respond to and make sense of their environment, including their parents, siblings and other relatives. I have been known to cry because one of my 'charges' has put the final piece in a 6-piece jigsaw puzzle, or come across the room towards me in response to their name. But no, I don't save the planet or do any of that stuff. But you couldn't expect me to for £7.50 per hour, could you? - it wouldn't keep a roof over my head, thank god for dh.

I am sorry if I have offended you with what was meant as a lighthearted comment. Presumably, you have not come across the many many typos and grammatical errors that appear on so much of the marketing bumph which comes through our doors.