There’s a familiar way of looking at things: place a single black dot on a blank whiteboard, and most people won’t notice the white space. Their eyes go straight to the flaw. It’s instinctive. It’s human. We are wired to catch what feels out of place, to pause at disruption, to question what doesn’t quite fit.
And increasingly, that instinct is extending into how advertising is engaged with today. Audiences are active participants now, quick to spot, question, and circulate the smallest details, turning fleeting moments into larger conversations.
Recently, Pronto ran a print advertisement in Gurgaon Times. At first glance, the creative was simple. A cluttered room, a chair stacked with clothes, visual cues of procrastination. But what caught attention wasn’t the insight. It was a line tucked into the layout—‘I’ll celan this later.’
What could have easily passed as a small error didn’t stay contained within the page. In a few hours, screenshots of the ad began circulating on LinkedIn. Soon after, with constant conversations, another detail emerged—somewhere else in the ad ‘tommorow’ also appeared misspelled. What was meant for a regional newspaper suddenly became a national conversation.
The Internet, as always, didn’t wait to pass its opinions. Some found the deliberate break in perfection to grab attention clever. Others dismissed it as a quality control miss that got lucky. One LinkedIn user wrote, “A perfect ad gets scrolled past. An imperfect one gets screenshotted.” Another suggested that small disruptions make people pause, notice, and engage. But there were also voices pushing back—calling out the tendency to romanticise mistakes as strategy.
IMPACT reached out to Pronto for clarification on whether the errors were intentional. No official response had been received by the time of publishing.
But to dive deeper, the conversation shouldn’t end at right or wrong. It needs to move into intent. “Imperfections organically appearing after execution is rare, and probably a risky thing to do. Such imperfections can only bear the potential of attracting fruitful results when planned with clear creative frameworks,” says Mayank Gaba, Creative Director, SW Network. What he essentially points at is control. When something slips through during execution, it is an error—unpredictable, open to interpretation, and potentially damaging. But when it is designed into the idea and is intentional, the reactions can be anticipated; the outcomes can be imagined; and the ‘mistake’ then is no longer a mistake—it is a device.
Seen through that lens, the Pronto execution begins to look more deliberate than accidental. The error sits within the very service it is trying to highlight: ‘cleaning’. Placed subtly, but not invisibly, it invites a second look—a kind of nudging to be caught, discussed, and shared. In the process, a print ad, which would’ve typically disappeared with the next day’s edition, found a much longer life online.
A similar play had unfolded earlier with Flipkart during one of its sale campaigns. In a communication promoting its iPhone sale, the word ‘starting’ was misspelled in a prominent placement. The typo sat right at the top, making it almost impossible to ignore. What followed was a wave of users calling it out across platforms, sharing screenshots, and correcting the brand—ironically doing exactly what every campaign intends: spreading the word. The error wasn’t the message, but it became the hook that carried it forward.
But this kind of execution operates within a tight margin and holds several risks. “The audience you are making the campaign for needs to understand that it’s intentional. It should be a balance between making people register the mistake with some effort and also understand that it’s deliberate. Being too apparent would mean no effort, and hence no appreciation.” says Pratik Shetty, Vice President, Growth and Marketing, Flipkart. He adds, “If the audience doesn't understand that it's deliberate, the brand will get trolled,” even if such reactions are often short-lived. Which means the success of such ideas depends not just on creativity, but on clarity of intent.
This intent, however, is no longer being decoded only in stills and copies. Consumers today are observing everything. In a recent campaign by Aurelia featuring Ananya Panday, a small continuity break caught viewers’ attention. In one scene, she slides a laddu behind her face, creating the illusion of eating it. In the next frame, it reappears in her hand. Whether it was an editing oversight or a deliberate quirk, it became part of the conversation around the ad.
And that’s not all. In some cases, the imperfection is blended in from the very inception. A brand like ‘Biryani Streat’ plays with something as fundamental as its name, altering a familiar word just enough to stand out. These may not be mistakes in the traditional sense, but they rely on the same instinct. Breaking expectations to stay memorable.
Hemant Shringy, COO, Wondrlab hints at a deeper thought process, “There’s something beautiful about imperfections that you can’t always explain with logic. It’s got to be felt.” Pointing out to a very different side of the approach, Shringey notes that the idea goes beyond advertising and into culture. “The evolution of Hinglish is a great example of imperfection that has endured. Because it’s not imperfection for the sake of it, it’s actually representative of a culture that’s bringing two worlds and two worldviews together,” he explains. He mentions examples like ‘My name is Lakhan’, ‘Desi Girl’ or Why This Kolaveri Di’ —lines that may not follow strict rules, but feel instantly familiar. “What’s special about imperfection done right is that while incorrect it ‘feels’ right and memorable,” he adds. Even in advertising, that thinking has translated into moments like Ajio’s festive line, ‘This is how we festival’, not technically correct, but emotionally aligned with how people celebrate.
That said, not everyone sees these imperfections in the same light. “Typos specifically, is not a great strategy for building a brand because it gives you short-term visibility, and that too, not for the right reasons,” says Karandeep Singh, Regional Marketing Director, Duolingo. His view cuts through the optimism around such executions, framing them not as clever creative devices, but as lapses that happen to gain attention. For Singh, visibility alone cannot be equated with success, especially when the reason for that visibility stems from something going wrong. He points out that while such moments may travel far and spark widespread conversation, they rarely contribute to long-term brand building or meaningful consumer connection.
But then, how does an imperfection start working in a brand’s favour—and more importantly, does it move the business needle? Singh acknowledges that relatability and quirkiness can work, but only when they are intentional and rooted in context. Mistakes, on the other hand, are not something brands should aim for or take pride in.
For Gaba, the answer lies in what happens after the attention is captured. “Almost all business metrics that you’d expect from any regular campaign, you would expect here as well. Of course, engagement stays on top,” he says, adding that if the conversation fails to translate into share of voice, website traffic, community building, increase in consideration, or sales, then “it’s fair to conclude the idea died a tragic death, but with a funeral crowd.”
Pointing out that controlling how the conversation unfolds is critical, Gaba says this is often done through deliberate seeding, using nano creators and brand ambassadors to initiate and guide discussions. When done effectively, it helps steer the narrative in a way that audiences end up engaging with the message exactly as intended.
What this ultimately highlights is a shift in how advertising is being read, shared, and remembered. As media environments fragment and attention becomes more selective, the margin for being noticed will only continue to narrow. In that space, brands may find themselves pushing at the edges of perfection, not to manufacture flaws, but to create work that invites a second look and sustains conversation.
At the same time, as Hemant Shringey suggests, not everything can be reduced to intent and control alone. “We’re all extremely intelligent and our ability to deliberate shines through in every meeting. But sometimes in between all the logic, we need to make room for some magic.” The challenge for brands will be knowing where that line sits, and when letting go just a little can make the work stay.
