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[video]http://screen.yahoo.com/road-sign-sends-confusing-message-220504808.html[/video]
“Please slow drively.”
A yellow road sign outside a preschool in North Auburn is making the rounds on the Internet and on national TV, with Fox News anchors guffawing at the mistake Wednesday morning.
Except that it’s not a mistake, according to Lorraine Bell, owner of Bell’s Preschool and Child Care Center on Atwood Road.
The sign went up in January 2012 on a private drive off Atwood Road that leads to the entrance of the elementary. The fact that it has gone viral is perhaps proof that idea behind the sign is working.
“This whimsical sign, which reads ‘PLEASE SLOW DRIVELY’ was a gift to the school to be used as a part of its campaign to get drivers to slow down when they pass by this school. Intentionally misspelled words are often used to draw the attention of the readers and it is a proven method for doing so,” Bell said in a written statement to the Journal.
Since the sign went up, the school has noticed a “marked reduction in the speed of many drivers” passing by, she said.
“I do not know if they are slowing down to try and read the sign, or to laugh at our misspelling or what,” Bell wrote. “But if they slow down because of that misspelled sign I am happy and the sign has served its intended purpose!”
Some might say it’s a good thing the sign is at a preschool, not a grammar school.
The report, originally aired Monday by Sacramento’s FOX40, featured interviews with patrons of a nearby shopping center, getting their reactions to the sign as shown to them on a smartphone.
“Fox and Friends” ran the report on Wednesday morning, with one of its anchors interjecting: “Who gave this traffic sign the green light? It’s making drivers turn their heads more than a few times.”
None of the reports featured an explanation from the owner of the sign.
The report, describing it as a traffic sign in Auburn, Calif., irked some residents who saw the report as a shot at the city. The sign is actually on private property in North Auburn, not on city land.
Gerry Mifsud has lived in Auburn for 30 years and said his children went to the preschool in question in the early 2000s. After he saw the report on HLN Wednesday morning, he hit the phones.
“I start to call everybody in the city office, front office, I called the mayor, vice mayor and three council members, and I alert them. … It’s an embarrassment for Auburn,” Mifsud said. “‘It says Auburn doesn’t know how to spell. What are you going to do about it?’ I kind of provoked them a bit.”
Auburn City Councilman Dr. Bill Kirby said there’s really nothing to do, as it’s on private property.
“HLN put it on City of Auburn, Auburn, California, as if we’re idiots and did something stupid without checking properly, as I understand it,” Kirby said. “I have had a number of residents tell me, ‘We didn’t like to be the brunt of the joke.’”
Placer County public works officials fielded calls from residents on the issue, too.
“That’s a completely, 100 percently, private sign,” said Kevin Taber, Placer County road maintenance manager. “I would hope that if we did place a sign like this, we would spell it right.”
There’s actually a name for the technique of using intentionally misplaced or misspelled words, called “metaplasm,” Bell said. It has been used in a recent Snickers advertising campaign in which the candy bar’s name is spelled “SNIKKERS” on the wrapper.
“We at Bell’s Preschool & Childcare Center are using this METAPLASM to try and get drivers to slow down as they enter or pass our facility for the improved safety of our children and our parents and staff,” Bell wrote. “And we think it is working!”
“Please slow drively.”
A yellow road sign outside a preschool in North Auburn is making the rounds on the Internet and on national TV, with Fox News anchors guffawing at the mistake Wednesday morning.
Except that it’s not a mistake, according to Lorraine Bell, owner of Bell’s Preschool and Child Care Center on Atwood Road.
The sign went up in January 2012 on a private drive off Atwood Road that leads to the entrance of the elementary. The fact that it has gone viral is perhaps proof that idea behind the sign is working.
“This whimsical sign, which reads ‘PLEASE SLOW DRIVELY’ was a gift to the school to be used as a part of its campaign to get drivers to slow down when they pass by this school. Intentionally misspelled words are often used to draw the attention of the readers and it is a proven method for doing so,” Bell said in a written statement to the Journal.
Since the sign went up, the school has noticed a “marked reduction in the speed of many drivers” passing by, she said.
“I do not know if they are slowing down to try and read the sign, or to laugh at our misspelling or what,” Bell wrote. “But if they slow down because of that misspelled sign I am happy and the sign has served its intended purpose!”
Some might say it’s a good thing the sign is at a preschool, not a grammar school.
The report, originally aired Monday by Sacramento’s FOX40, featured interviews with patrons of a nearby shopping center, getting their reactions to the sign as shown to them on a smartphone.
“Fox and Friends” ran the report on Wednesday morning, with one of its anchors interjecting: “Who gave this traffic sign the green light? It’s making drivers turn their heads more than a few times.”
None of the reports featured an explanation from the owner of the sign.
The report, describing it as a traffic sign in Auburn, Calif., irked some residents who saw the report as a shot at the city. The sign is actually on private property in North Auburn, not on city land.
Gerry Mifsud has lived in Auburn for 30 years and said his children went to the preschool in question in the early 2000s. After he saw the report on HLN Wednesday morning, he hit the phones.
“I start to call everybody in the city office, front office, I called the mayor, vice mayor and three council members, and I alert them. … It’s an embarrassment for Auburn,” Mifsud said. “‘It says Auburn doesn’t know how to spell. What are you going to do about it?’ I kind of provoked them a bit.”
Auburn City Councilman Dr. Bill Kirby said there’s really nothing to do, as it’s on private property.
“HLN put it on City of Auburn, Auburn, California, as if we’re idiots and did something stupid without checking properly, as I understand it,” Kirby said. “I have had a number of residents tell me, ‘We didn’t like to be the brunt of the joke.’”
Placer County public works officials fielded calls from residents on the issue, too.
“That’s a completely, 100 percently, private sign,” said Kevin Taber, Placer County road maintenance manager. “I would hope that if we did place a sign like this, we would spell it right.”
There’s actually a name for the technique of using intentionally misplaced or misspelled words, called “metaplasm,” Bell said. It has been used in a recent Snickers advertising campaign in which the candy bar’s name is spelled “SNIKKERS” on the wrapper.
“We at Bell’s Preschool & Childcare Center are using this METAPLASM to try and get drivers to slow down as they enter or pass our facility for the improved safety of our children and our parents and staff,” Bell wrote. “And we think it is working!”
