“Christmas suffers from diminishing returns as festive fare gets smaller”, (News last week, page 15) set out to establish that edible Christmas treats were being sold in ever smaller sizes but at higher prices. We should clarify that – as the text made clear – percentage price increases were expressed in cost per 100g. So, for instance, a box of Quality Street chocolates has shed 40g this year to 780g, yet it costs 13p (or 8%) more than last year. However, the accompanying graphic showed the price rising from £4.41 to £4.54 – an apparent increase of 3%. Similarly, a box of Cadbury’s Roses has risen 24p but lost 100g, which translates as a 13% increase, even though the graphic would appear to show a 5.37% increase from £4.47 to £4.71.
An editing error removed a paragraph on mobile technology from our debate “Should Band Aid be resurrected?” (New Review, last week, page 4) making the response somewhat obtuse. It’s been restored here http://gu.com/p/43b6q
We were told that a night in the presidential suite at the Kempinksi Palace, St Moritz, cost 40,000 Swiss francs (£26,600). It’s actually 18,000 Swiss francs (just under £12,000) – a snip. (“How a bet with pioneer Victorian tourists launched St Moritz, haven for the wealthy”, News, last week, page 29).
Write to Stephen Pritchard, Readers’ Editor, the Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, tel 020 3353 4656 or email reader@observer.co.uk
