It’s common practice to fill web sites with dummy text during development, and the temptation to include a few inside jokes can be strong. This screen grab from a Melbourne Metro Trains site prototype reminds us that approach might become a little embarrassing when those jokes become public.
Giant moths picture: marktristan
Actually, I’d be quite sympathetic if I was told the reason for my train being delayed was “giant moths” rather than the usual “incident”. Nonetheless, you’re probably safer sticking with lorem ipsum for your space-filling needs.
Comments
6 responses to “Reminder: Web Site Dummy Text Can Come Back To Haunt You (With Giant Moths)”
I disagree.
Provided it’s tasteful (as in this example), it is far more entertaining to see this sort of creativity than boring Lorem ipsum.
Agree entirely.. People are too straight laced for no actual benefit..
I also find this hilarious, and completely unoffensive.
But there are people who would be offended and think that instead of this being placeholder text/images that took a few minutes to put in, it’s a massive waste of time/money for a public service, yadda yadda.
Funny you mention lorem ipsum, I was seeing that text on Metro’s Notify app this morning. I have a screenshot of it but doesn’t look like I can upload a photo to here.
Fun’s fun, but Lorem Ipsum is easier to spot in that final check over before the deployment goes ahead. The Giant Moths section may have been missed because it looked too much like normal production data. After a while Lorem Ipsum catches your eye!
(Edit) Don’t get how the “Blah blah” made it through though!
It’s not too far removed from something that has happened
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/trekking-millipedes-sideline-trains-20120328-1vyri.html