By power I don’t mean the good kind. It’s not like there’s a beloved superhero out there who’s wearing the wrong letter on his chest because he can misspell words on billboard signs with laser vision. If there was, I think he’d be more of a super villain for all the trouble typos go around causing.

Case in point: While shopping the other day, I came across some magic belt you wear around your waist while working out to optimize your movements. I picked up the box, started reading its description, and was growing increasingly interested until I read “workout kit incldes”. See what they did there? They left out one little letter in “includes.” One missing letter was all it took for my perception of the product to go from “could be something I could use” to “looks like they just threw it all together!” Now, instead of my focus staying on the product, I started thinking about how that typo got past their writing and design department. I imagined two tired, overworked employees in a tiny office rushing to meet a deadline. I wondered, if they overlooked the packaging, what else did they overlook? In essence, that one typo cost the product its credibility.

Now, I know what you’re going to say. Not everyone’s a writer. Not everyone cares that much about a typo. For me, it really depends on the outlet. An 80,000-word book might have one or two that should get fixed in its second printing. Newspapers, news sites and even blogs are written at a much faster pace, but can at least be corrected online relatively easily.

It’s different when you’re looking at consumer goods or promotional materials. When consumers are looking at a product, they expect a finished product. An item on a store shelf with pretty packaging and a quality seal or price tags hanging from it comes with an unspoken promise that it’s new and perfect. A company’s website, a restaurant’s menu, and a salon’s brochure is a reflection of not just who they are, but of how put-together they are. A customer will draw these conclusions almost subconsciously as they browse through information to find out more about a service. Typos are like big speed bumps that snap them out of that focus and put them on a road to a completely different conclusion from the one intended.

Good thing this can all be easily prevented by getting a second pair of eyes to check everything before it’s finalized. And then check it again. And again. And maybe once more. Does that make proofreaders the heroes to typos’ villains? Could be interesting…