Fears owns up to billboard typo in good humour

British watch brand Fears has enjoyed a meteoric rise since it re-launched in 2016.

But the company’s owner, and great-great-great-grandson of founder Edwin Fear, Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, has been putting the theory that “any publicity is good publicity” to the test, by revealing a misspelling on an enormous billboard that Fears is advertising on.

The billboard, situated on the M32 motorway coming into Fears’ spiritual home of Bristol, is seen by thousands every day.

Instead of saying “Bristol’s Official Timekeeper Since 1846,” the billboard reads: “Bristol’s Offical Timekeeper Since 1846.”

Scargill-Bowman took the mistake in typically good grace and humour, sharing the faux pas on LinkedIn. 

“As someone who is trained in Adobe, I still do a lot of our advertising layouts, this new billboard included,” he said.

“But maybe it’s time to stop and remember I have an incredible marketing department and design department more than capable of doing these adverts. A dyslexic managing director should never sign off on his own artwork!

“So for a few days, until it gets changed, you’ll be able to enjoy a chuckle at my expense as you arrive by car into our wonderful home city.”