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Alton Towers/Merlin Typos & Grammatical Errors

Another one to add to the collection (there are several of these all over the place)

Oh the distress!

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I’ve got another one; I know this isn’t Alton Towers, but apparently there’s a big sign on Oblivion: The Black Hole at Gardaland that is supposed to say:
POINT OF NO RETURN
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But instead it says:
POINT OF NO ETURN
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Matt N said:
I’ve got another one; I know this isn’t Alton Towers, but apparently there’s a big sign on Oblivion: The Black Hole at Gardaland that is supposed to say:

But instead it says:
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This made me spit out my drink. Laughed way more than it deserved. Easy though as it was probably translated wrong.
 
It would appear we might have a new one, with Thorpe having unveiled their graffiti wall today. The key mistake in question is “Colussus”:

I guess the u kind of looks like an o from a certain perspective, in fairness…
 
Found this clanger in Sharkbait Reef last weekend:



Looks as though they might have tried to fix it by sticking over a correction label that has since peeled off - not sure whether that's better or worse?
 
AstroDan said:
In all seriousness, it's cringeworthy and embarrassing to see such widespread grammar, spelling and/or syntax issues across the group.

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Maybe it would help Merlin if they hired proof-readers, or at least a second set of eyes to check things before they go public?
 
Matt N said:
Maybe it would help Merlin if they hired proof-readers, or at least a second set of eyes to check things before they go public?
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I would presume some are done quickly and need to be. Something a lot of people overlook is just how big a company Merlin is. There are so many things that go public everyday all of it cannot possibly be monitored without significant expense. The odd spelling mistake is going to happen but maybe they should be a little more careful when producing such things.

I do wonder if some of them are done on purpose to gain exposure by trying to trend on twitter or whatever. Like today with the mural; could this have been an attempt at trying to trend on twitter with a mistake. Merlin has always loved there 'clever marketing'. Maybe that's just me overthinking it as usual. :confused:
 
JAperson said:
I would presume some are done quickly and need to be. Something a lot of people overlook is just how big a company Merlin is. There are so many things that go public everyday all of it cannot possibly be monitored without significant expense.
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But each park has quite a lot of autonomy. In 95% of these examples Merlin won’t be involved it’s just the park. Each small team doing these just need to get their manager or another colleague to proofread before sending to print.
 
Matt N said:
Maybe it would help Merlin if they hired proof-readers, or at least a second set of eyes to check things before they go public?
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Why would they hire someone to do that when the person making the signage has a mobile phone in their pocket with a spell checker and a Google search bar? Hell they could even press the microphone button, speak their desired notice text out and it will come up on the screen within seconds. The computer they're making the signage on probably has a spell and grammar checker throwing red and green lines all over the screen as they're typing the text into it.
 
Matt.GC said:
Why would they hire someone to do that when the person making the signage has a mobile phone in their pocket with a spell checker and a Google search bar? Hell they could even press the microphone button, speak their desired notice text out and it will come up on the screen within seconds. The computer they're making the signage on probably has a spell and grammar checker throwing red and green lines all over the screen as they're typing the text into it.
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Something like 'Solider' wouldn't get picked up by a spell checker as it's a valid word used incorrectly. You need a person.

I work in publishing and am a former freelance proofreader - rates for this type of work are rock bottom, so it's not a question of budget constraints. Just laziness, and probably an attitude that most people don't really care.

Interesting theory about the graffiti wall, but I could well believe that someone could really be that dumb not to see such a giant mistake...
 
Thorpe Park have now apparently changed the name of the ride in their app to match the graffiti wall. Guess they've turned it into a marketing opportunity after all!

 
Danny said:
Towers are currently advertising for a social media Marketing Exec, part of which entails some copywriting. It would help if they could actually spell the word correctly, however.

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Part of the application process maybe? If you don't spot it you don't get the job?
 
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