When it comes to retail, even the most respectable media sources struggle to provide meaningful information. Fox Business lamented about Burberry destroying U$37 million worth of merchandise last year, "sparking concerns about wasteful practices". They conveniently failed to mention that annual turnover of Burberry is around U$3.6 billion, so this was a mere 1% of sales. They didn't comment as to what portion of the destroyed stock related to faulty goods and returns that couldn't be re-sold either. Furthermore, Burberry probably lost more than U$37 million due to 'shrinkage' caused by staff, customers and suppliers. We can't see how plucking an isolated number from a financial report, and then building a story around it, could be helpful to anyone.
Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported that Coles got slammed on social media after the grocer contradicted its ban on single-use plastic bags by giving away collectible mini products made of plastic. AAP asked Coles for a formal response, including how many individual mini grocery items, and storage folders, have been ordered for the promotion, which runs for a limited time. If the 800 or so Coles supermarkets across the nation each gave away 1,000 complete sets, that would amount to almost 25 million individual items, most of them entirely or partially made of plastic, entering homes and potentially the waste stream. And, let's not forget the massive gross profits Coles will make from selling 15c multi-use plastic bags.