Misprinted Ads

By: Abigail Heffner

When Park advises newspapers that an advertisement is ready and approved to run, we send them the approved proof and exact wording of the ad needing to run. We also require that newspaper vendors send us a firm confirmation that the ad has been placed. However, vendor actions are beyond our control, and unfortunately, there are times when an ad runs incorrectly or not at all. This can occur for a few reasons. Sometimes, there is simply human error, and newspaper contacts forget to submit the ad for placement on their end. Other times, there is a separate layout department that makes unapproved changes to make the ad fit on the page.

If the ad didn’t run at all, we ask the vendor to place the ad as soon as possible. If the ad ran incorrectly or with a change, Park will contact you to see how you would like to proceed. Sometimes, the change is small enough that it doesn’t affect the wording and wouldn’t need reran.

For example, Park recently had a newspaper in California run a job code incorrectly. The paper provided a proof with the correct job code of #100 at the time of quote, but the paper printed it as #1009 for the first Sunday run. On Monday morning, we reviewed the etear and saw the discrepancy. We contacted the vendor that same morning. Park had the vendor rerun the ad correctly in their next edition and added a 3rd Sunday run at no additional charge to make up for the incorrect text running the first Sunday. Park knows swift action is needed to keep PERM schedules on course and prevent further delays, so we also advised our client of the issue that same day and provided them with the new run dates.

There are rare occasions where after an error is made on their end, the newspaper becomes unresponsive or unwilling to run the ad correctly. In these situations, we will find another vendor to run the ad. No matter the situation, Park will ensure your ad running correctly is our utmost priority.

In addition to print errors, there are other instances when a change is made or an error is caught on an online advertisement (SWAs, Online Job Boards, Online Trade Journals, or Sunday Online posts). In these cases, we will advise you of the error and ask how you would like to proceed. Most of the time, the decision is to correct the error and restart the posting duration. However, there are times where if the error is minor we can either keep the post as is or correct the change and move on without restarting the post duration.

PERM Advertising relies on the cooperation of a multitude of different vendors, and there are times when issues arise as vendors don’t always understand the many legal requirements. However, Park works for you to ensure that advertisements run as smoothly as possible, even when there are errors made by print and online vendors.