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How one's small mistake cost M&S a small fortune
Last updated at 22:52pm on 25.12.06
The baby suit that won't teach correct grammar
With its cute message, Marks and Spencer's sleepsuit was just the thing for a new baby's first Christmas.
There was only one problem - that bane of grammar-aware shoppers, an unnecessary apostrophe.
The suits have emblazoned across the chest the phrase "Mum's dreaming of a quiet Christmas just like the one's she used to know".
As anyone who knows their punctuation could have pointed out, the second apostrophe is surplus to requirements.
It is the second time in three months that the retailer has been caught out with an extra apostrophe on its children's range.
In October it had to apologise and offer dissatisfied customers a refund after one pointed out that a range of children's pyjamas featured the words "Baby giraffe's".
The cotton sleepsuits - priced £7, pale pink with dark red sleeves, and designed for newborns - went on sale in the Autumn, but M&S was only alerted to the gaffe over the weekend.
By then, all its stores were thought to have sold out of the festive item, although it was still on sale on its website, reduced to £2 - part of a clear-out of Christmas-themed products, rather than acknowledgment of the blunder, the store said.
Yesterday a spokeswoman apologised for the embarrassing mistake and said Marks and Spencer would try harder in future to get its punctuation right.
"We're very sorry to our customers for this silly mistake," she said. "Perhaps we should send some of our buyers to grammar lessons in the New Year."
They may not be alone - last month a literacy survey found two-thirds of teachers made classic apostrophe errors such as writing the 1970s as "the 70's".
But at least M&S is trying - which is more than could be said for it in 1994 when an English teacher wrote to correct the punctuation of "Seasons greetings" in its Christmas campaign, only to be told the apostrophe had been omitted on "aesthetic" grounds.
Since then it has overcome a slump in popularity and profits to recover its place as one of the High Street's best-loved names, thanks in part to better management and more stylish clothing.
But this has brought its own pitfalls - earlier this month, M&S withdrew a range of satin evening bags it was selling for £9.50 after fashion label Jimmy Choo complained its design was too close to one of its own bags, priced rather higher at £495.
Nevertheless, from being seen as a lost cause just three years ago, the chain is now firmly on the up, spending hundreds of millions on revamping its stores and making profits of more than £750million-a-year.
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