A red-faced care firm has apologised for an 'unfortunate' typo on a poster advertising care for the elderly - after they called the residence 'Skeleton Court' instead of 'Skelton Court'. Nick Broadbent took a u-turn to check he'd read a bus stop's billboard correctly when he drove through Skelton, North Yorkshire, on his lunch break last Thursday.
An image taken after the 45-year-old parked up showed the poster with 'Skeleton Court' in large white lettering above the correctly spelled website link and address of care home Skelton Court. The home is run by housing association Anchor, who claim to be the largest provider of care for 'people in later life' in England, and it opened in March.
Nick posted the image to Twitter where he joked Skeleton was a 'bold' name choice 'considering the age of many residents'. He claimed the spelling is a bit 'close to the bone' if it's a marketing ploy but believes that's simply a matter of the graphic designer 'having a mare' instead.
The marketing worker's tweet has been liked more than 1,300 times with baffled users speculating it must be a misprint. Nick said: "I was driving past it and I thought 'that can't be right' so I did a little loop round to park up and check.
"I was in the middle of a Twitter break for a week but I thought I couldn't not share that because it's too funny. It looks like an unfortunate error. If it's on purpose, then it's a bit close to the bone but I think it's just a mistake. It's definitely getting them some attention.
"Mistakes happen. But in terms of a viral marketing thing it's maybe an unexpected win. I wondered if they'd done it on purpose to get some attention but they don't seem like that kind of organisation. I think it's been a bit of a proof-reading fail.
"It just caught my attention because my parents' next-door neighbour has just moved in there. Maybe because I work in marketing I'm a bit more sensitive to noticing it."
Nick says that while growing up in the village pen pals from the US used to joke about them living in 'Skeleton'.
The village's new home claims to offer 24/7 permanent and respite care, including for people with dementia.
His Twitter post said: "A new care home has opened in my parents' village of Skelton. That a bold choice of name considering the age of many residents."
One commented: "Wow that's some misprint."
A second said: "I bet it got auto-corrected but nobody noticed."
A third asked: "Seriously?"
Nick replied: "To clarify, I think it's actually called Skelton Court. The graphic designer has had a mare here and whoever proofed it, didn't. I wouldn't have been a d**k about it if it wasn't so funny."
A spokesperson for Anchor said: "We're really sorry for the error in the ad. We're getting it removed as soon as possible and looking into how it happened."
