'Just run the ad exactly as I wrote it': Local newspaper agrees to run man's advertisement as-is, costs the customer a job

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 17, 2023 3:00 PM EST

One newspaper editor shared a very funny story that occurred at their workplace. It's one of those times where someone wanted to procure a service… but then he declared that he knew how to be a better copyeditor than the literal editors at the paper. 

This kind of schadenfreude is so satisfying to witness, especially in a career like writing, which is often underappreciated. Lots of people think that writing is easy or fast, and that makes them think anyone can do it. Not everyone can write well, though. Many people go through years of schooling, internships, and low-level jobs before achieving success as a writer or editor. Yet some folks still think that they know more about writing than someone who's done it for 8,000 hours and holds a degree. 

Plus, why would you seek out a professional, only to reprimand them for doing a poor job? Just find someone else to help you out if you don't think that company does a good job. 

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  • Some customers will come into a business and accuse them of doing a terrible job… and then request their services. This has never made sense to me. But perhaps this type of person thinks that the company will work harder after hearing that they'd been unhappy with the work in the past. Unfortunately for them, that's just not how the world works. 

    Read this very funny story below. Then, this waiter got the chance of a lifetime when they were able to reply to someone's one-star review about them. 

  • 01
    Wap-bap, ba-da-di-da-da G Aufmerkso 'He'd misspelled the name of the office he had been running for'
    via Roman Kraft on Unsplash
  • 02
    Just run the ad exactly as I wrote it! S OC Saw another post here that reminded me of something that happened to me years ago, when I was the editor of a small town newspaper.
    via u/ashleyorelse
  • 03
    A local man wanted to run his print campaign advertisements for elected office. He'd done this a few times before in a number of unsuccessful bids for election. Now he had returned, and was giving us an earful.
    via u/ashleyorelse
  • 04
    "The only reason I lost the last time was because all my ads got changed and looked stupid!"
    via u/ashleyorelse
  • 05
    We had changed his ad with us - slightly. He'd misspelled the name of the office he had been running for, so we had corrected it. Apparently that made the ad look differently than he wanted and had somehow cost him the election.
    via u/ashleyorelse
  • 06
    "I'm paying you for these ads, so this time, I demand you print exactly as I wrote it! No changes!"
    via u/ashleyorelse
  • 07
    He stormed off, and I figured the issue was over. Made my job easy. I thought, there is no need to proofread this, just send it over to our advertising person...ah, but let me look at it anyway.
    via u/ashleyorelse
  • 08
    I read it over and told others, and it wasn't long before the whole office had a good laugh. His advertisement read: (His name) for (elected office)! Always there, for you to help!
    via u/ashleyorelse
  • 09
    What makes it even better is we later learned he had apparently made a similar speech and demand at the offices of other newspapers where he ran the advertising as well, so they all had the same wording.
    via u/ashleyorelse
  • 10
    He lost the election. Again. He did not, however, complain about his advertisement this time. TL;DR - Comma placement is important, but we didn't change it because he asked us not to alter anything.
    via u/ashleyorelse
  • 11
    Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country can do for you. Or something like that
    via r/MaliciousCompliance
  • 12
    Hackerboy603 (His name) for (elected office)! Always there, for you to help! Ironic slogan for a man unwilling to accept help.
    via u/Hackerboy603
  • 13
    010 stumblewiggins I assume (His name) and (elected office) are just you trying to protect privacy and not the actual wording he submitted, but I like to imagine all of those election signs printed up like that
    via u/stumblewiggins
  • 14
    kikmaester Let's eat, Grandma! Let's eat Grandma. Commas save lives.
    via u/kikmaester
  • 15
    ParkingOutside6500. When I was a kid, my father the English teacher was driving our family past Lake Merced on a day when they were having a fundraiser for some organization that helped disabled people. This was in the seventies when different terms were used. We passed several signs that read: "Help the Handicapped Fish.". My dad was laughing so hard describing fish on crutches and in wheelchairs. I cannot see Lake Merced without picturing that and losing it.
    via u/ParkingOutside6500

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