BOUQUET FOR CATHY PACIFIC

Airline Cathy Pacific has won plaudits for standing by an error it had made when publishing prices for first class travel in its New Years Day sale.

The first-class fare from Vietnam to New York, usually £12,700 was mistakenly shown as £536 for August, cutting more than £12,000 off the fare. Cathy Pacific acknowledged their mistake, blamed on human error, but congratulated those who had bought the tickets at the “very good surprise price” and hoped they would make 2019 special.

Other airlines may have tried to wriggle out…

L’OREAL WHITEWASH

Freida Pinto, the Indian actress who rose to fame in the hit 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire has hit out at cosmetic firm L’Oreal, claiming they lightened her skin colour in a photo they used to promote an eyeshadow range.

Pinto, who became the face of L’Oreal in 2009 says that she specifically excluded products designed to lighten skin colour from her contracts.

L’Oreal denies that they lightened Ms Pinto’s skin for their eyeshadow ad.

GUARDSMAN TO QUIT OVER SNOWFLAKES AD

A Scots guardsman, Stephen McWhirter, is set to quit the Army after they used his photograph in a recruitment ad alongside copy that read “Snowflakes – the Army needs you and your compassion”.

McWhirter, who pointed out that “snowflake” was a modern derogatory term for oversensitive young people and that he had been exposed to ridicule since the ad appeared.

USURIOUS BANKS TO BE CURBED

Invidious and greedy overdraft charges imposed by our banks are to be severely cut after investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCI), the City watchdog.

One example of the scale of the rip-offs is treatment meted out by Natwest to customers who go £15 in the red where no overdraft has been agreed. These unfortunates are then charged £8 per day up to £72 per month, a figure way in excess of the actual debt. In some cases the daily fees represent an interest charge of 20% per day, far higher than the 0.8% a day cap the FCI imposed on payday lenders in a clean-up three years ago.

Rulings on essential changes to bank’s behaviour needed are expected to be made by the FCI by June this year.

FAUX FUR FROM RABBITS

Online fashion firms have been selling items trimmed with “faux” fur that has actually come from rabbits.

This has been revealed in tests carried out by Humane Society International (HSI) on coloured pom-poms on a jumper from boohoo.com and a headband from accessories firm Zacharia. Both firms sell through Amazon and both boast anti-fur policies, claiming they were unaware that the fake fur was real.

Because of the appalling conditions animals are kept in on fur farms, especially those in China, real fur can be produced more cheaply than fake. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned ads promoting the items from the two companies, on the grounds that they are misleading.

In the past “faux” fur tested by HSI has been found to come from domestic dogs and cats, and foxes.

ADS TO BE AXED

Transport for London (TFL) is to axe ads for junk foods from Tube stations and bus stops from next month as part of London mayor Sadiq Khan’s war on child obesity.

Ads for mayonnaise, pesto and olive oil are also thought to be included and the ban is estimated to cost deficit-hit TFL £13 million a year in lost revenue. Other products that may be affected are butter, cheese and stock cubes.

Some MPs have accused Khan of “pointless virtue signalling” and “grandstanding” – previous bans imposed by him have been for “body-shaming” where the ad featured a slim model in a bikini, “overtly sexual” where a woman in tights showed her bare back and the “sexual objectification” of an ad showing the topless torso of a fifty year old man.