Do you know, what a comma splice is? Can you use apostrophe’s properly within sentences’?
Did you spot the grammatical errors in the preceding sentences? If you didn’t you need to read this blog.
This week Frank Armstrong made grammar lessons fun when he presented Avoiding the Evil Comma Splice to our MCOM5 class. Frank not only used PowerPoint as a presentation tool, but also as an effective learning aid. He included a hilarious, yet informative YouTube video within his presentation that you should check out.
Following our second MCOM 5 class this week I was intrigued by the prevalence of grammatical errors within marketing communications and decided to do some investigating. I put on my Sherlock Holmes cap and sat down at my laptop to trawl through the internet.
Effective writing skills are essential to communication within any business; however, they are critical within the marketing industry. Could you imagine if global leaders such as Pepsi or Coca-Cola made grammatical errors throughout their advertising campaigns?
Wait a minute …
In a September 2009 blog, entitled Coke with a Splice, Nancy Friedman explored this grammatical issue when she wrote about an ad that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle.
However, when I attempted to find the source of this ad and further information about the LivePositively.com campaign I found a broken link.
I hope Coca-Cola will take a lesson from Frank and Nancy – comma splices have no place in writing, especially advertising. Oops!
If you are interested in learning more about comma splices check out these blogs and resources:
Who thought grammar could be so much fun? Frank and I want to start a movement where we circle typos on signage on campus. We're a learning organization for heaven's sake! (*Note the possessive apostrophe)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your blog Katherine, thanks! (or should that be a semi-colon?)
Hilarious! You have a delightful sense of humour, Katherine. I laughed out loud!
ReplyDeleteKathy, we study semicolons and colons on Tuesday!