When the June 22 issue of Cable World rolled off the presses, everything seemed normal - until advertising client Showtime received its VIP copy. Showtime had first dibs to see its gatefold advertisement for the premiere of its heady "Lolita" film, but found two of the three ad pages had been inverted.
The inversion distinctly changed the meaning of the promotion. Instead of reading: "Others Saw the Makings of a Controversy...We Saw the Makings of a Classic," it read: "We Saw the Makings of a Classic...Others Saw the Makings of a Controversy." The film is based on author Vladimir Nabokov's chronicle about a man in love with a child.
In PR, the error represents a nightmare we hope you never face. But we believe Cable World, a decade-old trade magazine that's a staple for many in telecommunications, approached the dilemma with diplomatic finesse.
The mistake was made by CW's undisclosed printer because of what Publisher Donna Briggs says were sketchy final instructions from its traffic department. So, the magazine re-ran the ad at no cost on June 29.
A week later, CW sent apologetic letters to its 23,000 readers, with a copy of the ad as it should have appeared. Briggs won't say what that first-class mailing cost, but admitted it was expensive and that CW paid for it in full.
When we contacted Briggs last week, she was the model of a crisis communications expert.
She explained what went wrong, accepted blame and then pointed out that this has never before happened at the publication.
The mistake has resulted in more exacting instructions and "double checking," so the mistake doesn't end up being one in a series, she says. (Cable World, 732/431-5166)
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