I make a lot of writing mistakes and typos. I’m not a perfect writer.
However, I’m also not a multinational conglomerate named Kodak declaring bankruptcy with the livelihood of thousands of families and retirees hanging in the balance. I am going somewhere with this, please bear with me a moment…
In case you missed it, Eastman Kodak – which was once the most recognized brand in the world beating out Disney and Coca-Cola – declared bankruptcy today.
That’s sad for me because I grew up in Rochester, NY which continues to be the worldwide headquarters for the company.
While I never worked for Kodak I know dozens who did and still do. Since we no longer live in New York, I went to the company’s “official bankruptcy” site today for more information at http://
I was stunned to find a typo on the site. Check out the 2nd to last paragraph in this linked statement which is missing the article “a” – not a huge deal, but it’s symptomatic of a LACK of attention to detail.
“Kodak aims to build company that will be successful in the marketplace – and a positive force in the communities we call home.”
For the past 14 years, I’ve worked in corporate communications at three different Fortune 500 companies. I can guarantee that the mini-web site that linked above and houses this bankruptcy announcement cost at least $50K to design and write all the content.
Additionally, at least 20 different people including internal and external lawyers would have previewed this statement prior to posting – apparently not as closely as they should have.
Somehow the statement was still posted with the typo. Again, this is not a huge error but it suggests a broader internal problem. There’s a proverb that states, “If you can’t be trusted with little things, how can you be trusted with great things.”
A typo is a very little thing, but bankruptcy is a very big and sad thing.
As of 3:00pm today, the typo still has not been fixed….and it supposedly went live shortly after midnight this morning.
