Oh yeah! Those kind of bloopers are everywhere. Alot of times companies will hire artists based on skill and price, not on their intimate knowledge of the subject. I happen to be a fine artist and scientific illustrator myself, and I turn down a few jobs every year that I don't feel I have the knowledge base to properly execute. In those circumstances I usually point them to someone that specialises in that subject. If they still want me to do the work, I damand at least 2 months for research before I begin the job. most of the time, the company will not wait, and only about 25% of the people I referr for the job actually get the job. They usually get outbid by someone that knows nothing about the subject.
So, in those cases what you are likely to see is the product of an illustrator that just grabbed a pic, copied it in his style and threw it on a background of whatever. It may be completely inaccurate and totally out of context, but it looks good to the company and they don't know the difference anyways. Alot of times the artist just copies someone elses innacurate work and adds a few of their own inaccuracies, creating what I call the Xerox effect.
As for me, I am too much of a perfectionistic bastard to put out some crap just for a few bucks, but some of those illustrations are really good for making those that know better laugh!
