Pubic Schools and a Missed Opportunity

One year ago yesterday, the interweb went nuts with photos of a billboard with a major error.  It said "Pubic Schools" instead of "Public Schools." Many people took it as a proofreading lesson.  When I read this article, I saw a major missed opportunity. 

The owner of the company who put up the billboard is quoted as apologizing profusely (good), explaining that the copy was proofread and they still missed the error (bad), and apologizing again (good again).

Here's what he didn't say that could have earned him more business:  "Thanks to the technology behind our billboards, we were able to correct the problem within hours of seeing it.  With low-tech billboards, we would still be waiting to print the new text and then to get a crew to go re-install it.  With our high-tech billboards, we fixed it quickly. We apologize for the error, but we're glad that South Bend Public Schools got some visibility out of it."

Marketing isn't goof-proof.  When we do goof, let's look for ways to make a bad situation a little better.

Have you had a bad situation that you've been able to turn into a semi-good situation by how you handled it?  Do share...


P.S.  If he said all that and the reporter chose not to print it, my apologies.  It's still a good lesson though.