You’d normally expect adverts or campaign posters to go through a rigorous proofing and checking process before they are printed and put up around a train station. Sadly this does not seem to have happened with the latest campaign material from the Sweden Democrats.
If you thought Nigel Farage was bad, the Sweden Democrats seem to be on another level. And they have 49 seats in the Riksdag, which represents 14% of parliament.
Their new anti-immigration campaign (which was controversial enough already) features posters written in English across the Stockholm metro station that are full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
Now, let’s just take this one step at a time.
First, the anti-immigration nature of the campaign is deeply controversial. Slogans such as “Sorry about the mess here in Sweden” and “We have a serious problem with forced begging” are aimed at foreign tourists arriving into the city and have been branded as ‘racist’. There will be a 13,000-strong protest against them in Norrmalmstorg Square, with organisers saying that the campaign “kicks at some of the most vulnerable in our society.”
Controversial or not, as copywriters we cannot help but be appalled by the spelling and grammar being used. They’ve even spelt government wrong, missing out the all-important first n as the picture below shows.
It gets worse though. One phrase says, “Welcome back to a better Sweden” which is meant to be a translation of a campaign slogan that says, “Please visit a better Sweden in 2018”, the year of the next general election. It’s one thing being controversial in your adverts but at least get the grammar correct while you’re at it.
What do you think about this controversial material from the Sweden Democrats? Can you think of any other political campaigns or adverts with glaring spelling and grammar errors? Tweet us @strattoncraig or leave a comment below.
Wake up and see the copy – Sweden Democrats
