Embarrassing Typo in Adams Ad Made National Headlines

Misplacing just one letter in a word can make the difference between heartwarming and downright hilarious.

Adams Fairacre Farms is know throughout the region for their customer service. In fact, the local chain was recently named one of the top five friendliest businesses in the Hudson Valley. So you could imagine the shock on some customers faces when they opened their newspapers and found a not-so-jolly message from Adams during the holiday shopping season.

The ad caused quite a commotion when it ran back in the 1980s and was shared on Adams' Instagram account this week for "Throwback Thursday." It shows what appears to be one of Santa's elves and Mrs. Clause holding the Adams logo, with a message about the store's holiday hours underneath.

The purpose of the ad was to inform customers that all of their stores (there were only two located in Poughkeepsie and Kingston at the time) would be closed on December 25 to allow their employees a rest from the hectic holiday season, a tradition that Adams still follows to this day.

Before you scroll down, can you find the error for yourself?

Did you see it?

Unfortunately, whoever typeset the ad mistakenly turned the letter "b" into "lo." This was a common mistake back when many things were handwritten and then transferred to type, but if you're trying to describe the "busy season," the mistake gives the ad an entirely different meaning.

That's right, this actual ad ran throughout the Hudson Valley telling everyone that Adams was "taking time out from the hustle & bustle of this LOUSY season."

Oh no.

Of course, anyone who's ever shopped at Adams knew immediately that this was some sort of terrible mistake, but that didn't stop the blunder from causing an uproar and eventually even making the national news. While I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time, Adams does have a good sense of humor about it now, even posting the ad on their Instagram account.

It's important to remember that the ad was printed in the days before autocorrect, so it's understandable how a really lousy copy editor could make a mistake like that... Uh, I mean BUSY copy editor. Whoops.