A Letter of Complaint

It was during last year that I wrote this letter to the food company, Pam's. I don't know if it would be considered a rumour, but many people have asked me (in a tone that implies that I'm a little insane) if I really did write a letter to Pam's about the grammatical error on their new label. To make it perfectly clear: yes, yes I did. What the company did was change their label from the one seen on the can to your left, to the slightly blurred one you can see below. As you will see in the letter below, I did it mainly out of curiosity. I have not received a reply as of yet.


I also wrote a letter to the food company Uncle Tobys. Please tell me you can see a problem with that name. Uncle Tobys. Apostrophe, anyone? I got a letter of reply back, explaining that it was a registered trademark, so they couldn't change it, but that they would take it into account when they have to renew the trade mark. They didn't bother explaining why the apostrophe had been omitted to begin with. They did, however, include a bag and two calendars with their letter, which proves while they may not be grammatically competent, they are tactful.

What sparked my interest and concern for grammar was reading the book Eats, Shoots and Leaves, by Lynne Truss. This book explains grammar in a highly amusing manner, and turned me into a ''stickler''. Did you know that the movie Two Weeks Notice (with Sandra Bullock, and Hugh Grant) is also lacking in an apostrophe? It should be Two Weeks' Notice. I do recommend you read this book, if not out of concern for grammar and the disturbing lack of it in today's society, but for a good laugh. It might even inspire you to join the Apostrophe Protection Society.

My letter of complaint to Pam's. Enjoy.

Dear Pam’s Representative,

The point of this letter is a query concerning your new logo that some of your products now have. The new Pam’s logo does not only have a lower case letter instead of the capital the proper noun requires, but also is lacking in its previous possessive apostrophe. I am just curious to why. Why deliberately change your logo to make it grammatical incorrect? I personally do not find it more appealing or eye-catching; it actually is less recognisable as a Pam’s product now. Having two errors on your logo does not support your reputation as a respectable food company.

You may be thinking, does it really matter? But grammar, along with English syntax, is on a downward spiral.
A lot of the time, it is like grammar is more commonly overlooked than used.

This error would be seen by a large number of people everyday and would only be encouraging this growing problem of grammatical ignorance.

Thank you for your time and I am looking forward to your reply.