Misleading? Courgette pricing in Sainsburys
It often strikes me that a good way to collect money for charity would be to stand outside Starbucks or Caffè Nero and invite people to donate the £2 or so that they were going to spend on a latte on people and causes that needed that £2 much more than you really need a coffee and a sit-down. However, I like my Caffè Nero, and I can’t get holier-than-thou over it.
So I’ve come up with a better idea: buy your courgettes loose from Sainsburys, and give the money you save to anyone you like, except Mr & Mrs Sainsbury. Confused? Look at the picture above which was taken on Thursday morning at Sainsburys in Tooting. On the left, a 500g pack of courgettes costs £1.78. On the right, a kilo of courgettes (loose) costs £1.84. So 500g of courgettes from the loose box would cost you 92p – which is 96p less than buying them in a packet. That’s nearly a whole pound you’re giving to Sainsburys which you could put towards coffee, or charity – you decide.
I had to stare at those signs for two minutes before I could work out what was going on, and then had to photograph them to be sure I hadn’t made a mistake. Two signs, four figures, two font sizes, and four means of comparison: on the left, the big number is price per pack, with the price per kilo printed in a size and position that is appropriate for cats with 20/20 vision. On the right, the big price is price per kilo, with the cat-friendly font dedicated to price per pound. So in fact, you’ve got four things to compare, and the two vital comparators (price per kilo) are not displayed at the same hierarchic level. If you don’t or can’t read the small print, you might think that the ones on the left are cheaper – after all, it’s £1.78 compared to £1.84. The price for not doing the maths is to pay £3.56 per kilo for a courgette as opposed to £1.84, or nearly double.
Latte anyone?
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