Every month, The Spin maintains an account of mishaps in the world of communications. Here are some of the best from 2025.
1 While some typos can be salvaged, creative output such as this advertisement by Pakistan International Airlines, could not. The thoughtless placement of a PIA flight on the creative – heading straight for the Eiffel Tower – was made much worse by the copy on the creative. While some folks online had a laugh about the unfortunate ad, the airline and the nation’s foreign diplomats didn’t let it slide. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar condemned the advertisement, calling it an example of “stupidity”. The Spin is inclined to agree. What were they thinking?
How many layers of approvals did this go through before it was approved and launched?
2 Closer to home, a new building near The Spin’s headquarters is well under way. While the building did look promising, the same couldn’t quite be said for the company board standing proudly outside. Construction progress aside, someone might want to rebuild that line from scratch. Let’s just hope that is one promise it doesn’t deliver on.
3 Pictures sometimes speak for themselves. This televised angle from a White House conference proved it. This poorly (or expertly) framed backdrop required very little reading between the lines. Proof that a little bit of perspective changes everything.
4 The latest delivery player in the UAE boldly took over cities with out-of-home campaigns in the country to celebrate its launch in the market. The Spin couldn’t resist the temptation of seeing what the hype was about. It’s safe to say that the enthusiasm is well-noted, with weekend notifications coming in at the crack of dawn on a Monday morning.
5 A typo on this pizza box raises questions too. Makes you wonder whether the pizza provided is, indeed, ‘fesh from the Oven’, if it states, ‘prefect taste’. Guess that depends on whether the prefect is Cedric Diggory, Hermione Granger or Percy Weasley.
6 In the age of AI, clearly human involvement is still required. The Spin came across a digital ad that displays a service expert drilling into a television.
7 This entry in The Spin was more of a ‘visual typo’ for an advertisement promoting Prestige Nail School. Makes you wonder what sort of ‘nail tech school’ teaches you to paint your own nails while holding someone else’s hand. The only tech used here seems to be generative AI, and it clearly has not nailed the ad.
8 We have a typo on the front page of the Irish Examiner that might have escaped notice if it were anything but the name of a certain UK Member of Parliament – who remains quite unpopular in Ireland. Let us know if it tickles you when you read it aloud.
9 The Spin brought you a glaring typo in an ad campaign run by Mike Collins, who has been a US representative for Georgia’s 10th congressional district since 2023. The ad, which announced Collins’ Senate candidacy, was criticised for misspelling the name of the state he represents, reading “Georiga, let’s ride”. He got what he asked for – a wild and bumpy ride on social media.
10 Speaking about creative copy on an advertisement, maybe it’s not as simple as writing a catchy one-liner. Maybe we do need to break these silos that exist between the strategy, creative design and copywriting departments. Otherwise, we get ads that in their final ‘approved’ iteration read ‘My Perfect Pet. Gently Cooked’. Yes, the intention is clear, but the way it reads on a passing delivery truck is comical.
Read all the lists from Campaign Middle East’s The Annual issue here.
