# Cool domain name gets Home Office into trouble with Advertising Standards Authority

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2006/11/17/cool-domain-name-gets-home-office-trouble-advertising-standards-authority/
- Published: 2006-11-17T13:44:01+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

The Home Office has paid the price for being a bit too trendy and down wiv da kids.

As Michael Webb reports in [NFP Techno](http://nfptechno.netxtra.net/archive/view.jsp?ref=356&cmr=775284),
a radio advertising campaign in March 2006, commissioned by the Home Office, directed
listeners to the web address thinkUknow.com. “ThinkYouKnow.com” was presumably too
old fashioned and difficult to spell for the txting generation.

Unfortunately for the Home Office enough people hearing “thinkUknow.com” on the 
radio managed to spell the full length version and visited “ThinkYouKnow.com”, which
turned out to be a paid advertising landing page with links to adult content.

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As Michael Webb points out, “somewhat ironically, the campaign’s objective was to
promote safer web-browsing for minors”.

The Advertising Standards Authority [upheld the complaint](http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_41678.htm)
on 23 August 2006.

So, if you must use slang and abbreviations in a website address, make sure you’ve
registered the domain names for possible misspellings and alternate spellings, particularly
if you are relying on people hearing the web address rather than viewing it.

Alternatively, just spell words correctly.

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