PR Funny of the Day: “Word of mouse” by Kwittken & Company



2009 October, 2nd
Mihaela Lica
Mihaela Lica
feature photo

No one is immune to it, not even the best of the best. But we prefer to see things with a smile today. If “word of mouth” applies for traditional marketing, why should we call it the same online? Kwittken’s small error on the corporate site could actually pass for a creative license if we think about it… It cannot be “word of mouth” online, (unless we count video and podcasts). It has to be “word of mouse” – it certainly sounds better than “word of keyboard.” So “word of mouse” could be a new term to describe social media buzz…

The pearl can be found on Kwittken’s Consumer Lifestyle & Luxury Marketing page, where the company states that:

Kwittken & Company orchestrates opportunities for brands to become an interesting and relevant part of everyday conversation among consumers through:

  • Media placements & publicity
  • Celebrity influence
  • Events/sponsorships/partnerships
  • Product seeding/promotions/placements
  • Word of mouth/buzz
  • Word of mouse/viral/blogging/social networks

Word of mouse... a new term to describe social media buzz. If you click to enlarge the image on the left, things will become pretty apparent. Believe it or not, I am on Kwittken’s side. Sure, the “word of mouse” instance is an error in this case, but it’s sweet and innocent and not indicative of the company’s value.

Kwittken & Co. is a company that won numerous awards – its CEO Aaron Kwittken writes monthly a column for Entrepreneur and the company’s President Jason Schlossberg is featured by AdAge and others.

You see, when I first read the “word of mouse” instance I laughed and said to myself “damn, and they dare to offer editorial services?” But then I read more about the company. I read the featured articles and I saw a brilliant team at work.

The moral of the story is: don’t judge the value of a company (or writer) by typos. Look for the value of the ideas instead.

About the Author

author photo

Mihaela Lica is senior partner at Pamil Visions PR and editor at Everything PR. She is a widely cited authority on search engine optimization and public relations issues (BBC News, Force for Good, Reuters and others), with an experience of over 7 years in online PR and SEO. Mihaela writes for SitePoint, Search Engine Journal, and other online publications. She also maintains a personal blog called eWritings. Follow Mig on Twitter or send her an email at mig [at] pamil-visions [dot] com.

See All Posts by This Author

There Are 2 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Anne on 2 October 2009:

    Soooo funny, and yes, innocent. :) You are right, we shouldn’t judge for such small things, but when the errors are prevalent, I don’t think the rule applies. For example I was looking for a copywriter and found an Indian company that offered a good deal – but the copy they sent was awful. The excuse is that English was second language for these people (as it is for me too), but I found similar errors in copy sent by natives as well. Many writers confuse it’s with its, complement with compliment, than with then and so on. If it happens once it’s an accident, but if it happens every time… then I reserve the right to form a different opinion.

  2. Comment by B. Joe on 2 October 2009:

    So cute!