Burger King Ad’s Misuse Of The ‘Apostrophe Ticks Off Grammar Geeks
Photo 108277276 © Robert309 | Dreamstime.com
Burger King, the self-professed Home of the Whopper, has made a Whopper Jr. of a mistake in a new television commercial. Still, the typo is so glaring to some that it’s being flame-grilled to a crisp.
The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it error appears in a spot advertising the fast-food chain’s smaller-sized Whopper Jrs., which are going for an affordable US$5 for two burgers. The deal is perfect for two diners with small appetites, but as Burger King proclaims, “JK YOU ATE ‘EM BOTH.”
Go get 'em.
— Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) October 9, 2023
Burger King, the erroneous apostrophe in your TV ad is killing me https://t.co/RJJOiqA1Uo
Did something in that sentence cause your eye to twitch? As Washington Post columnist John Kelly points out in his feverish piece, “Burger King, the erroneous apostrophe in your TV ad is killing me,” the word “’em” is short for “them,” and the apostrophe shouldn’t be an open single quote—shaped like a six—but a close single quote—shaped like a nine.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball chimes in: “This sort of mistake drives me nuts.”
[via Washington Post and Daring Fireball, images via various sources]
