#$%-in Alt Tags…
A graphic artist for a co-op advertising firm apparently had a really bad day recently and it showed up in an ALT tag in one of his or her company mailings. Listen and learn why you don’t want this to happen to you.
ALT tags are HTML tags that provide alternate text when graphics are blocked.
For example, an HTML graphical burst that says “Save 50%!” can have an ALT tag that spells out the offer in text so the recipient knows what the graphic is supposed to say if the graphic doesn’t render.
ALT tags don’t work with every e-mailbox provider, but they work often enough that experts recommend their use.
However, experts don’t recommend that ALT tags be used to vent.
Recently, a graphic designer for co-op advertising firm Co-Options Consumer Access in Cary, N.C., did just that. A “Summer-Time-Savings” themed e-mail went out to potential advertisers letting them know there were two coupon slots left.
Recipients whose e-mailbox providers blocked graphics didn’t get the “Summer-Time Savings” message, though. They got a big blank white box with itty-bitty text that said: “Final [rhymes with truck] off.”
Once executives at the firm realized what had happened, they sent an apologetic message.
“We very humbly apologize for the previous e-mail sent out for [brand redacted at brand manager’s request] for which a graphic file was labeled profanely (not by Julie Lewis, the sender),” the message began. “The artist who put together the graphic and uploaded to the e-mail system had a great deal of trouble with the file and was unaware that the method by which files were labeled could be seen on PCs. This is no excuse and, again, we hope that you please accept our apology for this error in judgment.”
Fortunately for Co-Options Consumer Access, recipients of the message were advertisers, many of whom have apparently had similar mess-ups.
According to a follow-up message, reaction to the snafu was mostly commiseration.
“Thanks to all who sent back kind notes of consolation regarding our e-mail mishap earlier today, and for sharing your e-mail blunders…they most certainly lightened the situation here,” the second note said.
