orbitmic

Indeed (almost) not at all misleading:

"In true British style the airline has also launched a centenary edition afternoon tea including a scone, jam and clotted cream for a traditional cream tea experience in the air"

British Airways - NEW HEIGHTS AS CENTENARY EDITIONS TAKE TO THE SKIES

I appreciate that you feel that it is BA bashing and unfair and others can join in considering that I am, but I personally find BA's statement wholly dishonest and inaccurate.

It is all fine to say that if passengers take a forensic look at the printed menu, comparing different pages, they might realise that "Afternoon tea" is in fact a category and not a description of the only menu item described on that page, but that is simply not how a vast majority of passengers act: they look and will get impressions in good faith, and if they have been exposed to BA's advertising as many have, I think that one would have a hard time suggesting that BA is not intending to suggest that they are selling an "afternoon tea". In turn, it seems suggested that this afternoon tea is a set "including" the scone and accompaniment and mirrors a classic (or even epitomic) British "traditional cream tea", which I and seemingly a few others happen to believe includes tea...

Deltus

I strongly approve of bringing Lord Denning into this, but I think his moron in a hurry actually would expect to get tea with their scone, notwithstanding the details specified underneath. Indeed, the OP reported that several passengers around him were disappointed - are you suggesting that those passengers were so dense as to not even reach the threshold of a "moron"?

Even if BA's ET cabins are filled with sub-morons, BA should be pitching it's communication material accordingly. The fact that several passengers misunderstood shows that the authors of the menu have screwed up here, even if the learned folk of FT would not be similarly misled.

Andriyko

snaxmuppet

But I think it is precisely that.

Do an experiment... this is something we can all try at home ... ask 10 of your friends what constitutes afternoon tea. If they don't mention a cup of tea then ask... would you expect a cup of tea with something from the menu called afternoon tea? I will try this myself. I bet the vast majority, if not all, will be expecting a cup of tea to be included even though it doesn't actually say it is included.

If BA know that a cuppa would be expected to be included and it is not then I believe that it is disingenuous not to point that out.

navylad

skywardhunter

Perhaps someone might like just a cup of tea, and not a scone ...

orbitmic

I'm saying that passengers would need to take a forensic/very careful look at the menu to realise that "afternoon tea" is not the description of the sole item sold on that page but instead, a more generic category which only becomes apparent if you compare the font to that on other pages where the title could not be ambiguously descriptive of a specific product but is instead obviously categorical (e.g. "Hot drinks", "Cold Drinks", "Sweet snacks", etc.). Note that "afternoon tea is clearly a different lexical category, and this is made obvious by the fact that as others have pointed out, when BA itself transcribed the menu into its website, it thought that "afternoon tea" is no longer a category but an item.

And yes, I am saying that many people read this because in case you hadn't noticed, that press release made it - as was intended - to many papers, magazines, and business and travel publications across the UK which copied and pasted those elements (journalists are lazy), and at least one very popular morning tv programme. For example:

https://www.businesstraveller.com/bu...tion-products/
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/20...rink-launches/
https://www.dfnionline.com/latest-ne...er-08-05-2019/
https://aboutmanchester.co.uk/new-he...ke-to-the-sky/
https://www.prolificlondon.co.uk/cam...part-centenary

[All integrate the description that I quoted upthread]

So no, it is not just "5 people" who have seen or heard that, it is thousands of readers and viewers, which, after all, is the whole point of BA having a press campaign on this in the first place. What happens once you have read or heard this one is pretty obvious to anyone with a passing understanding of priming.

Anyway, you don't have to believe me. Point is well taken that you believe that BA's descriptions are clear and straightforward and why, and I'm sure others will equally have taken the point that I don't think they are and why. Everyone can decide for themselves with all the elements that many of us have provided.

navylad

Andriyko

Why would I do that? What would it prove? BA does not offer afternoon tea. Point me to a menu item that says 'afternoon tea' please. I see a scone, tea and hot chocolate. I know what 'afternoon tea' means; I also know what a scone for GBP5 means. I don't need a scientific experiment to prove that what my eyes can see and what I can read is actually what will be delivered to me.

Come on - this is so far fetched. Look what's written next to the price. It is all very compact, in bold. Description of the menu item and then the price. Following your logic, every time we read a description of the menu item we're performing a forensic research? if anything, the 'afternoon tea' words are clearly the name of the section, and then the product for GBP5 is described further down and there can be no mistaking it for anything else.

snaxmuppet

Yes there would... people buy cups of tea on their own, or with other products. But something labelled as "Afternoon tea" I would expect to include a cup of tea.

I live in Cornwall. We have the same thing here... normally called a "cream tea". It always includes a cup, or more often a pot, of tea in the cream tea price. There is always cup/pot of tea available separately on the menu for those that want a cuppa but don't want a "cream tea". Same thing. If people started serving up cream teas but without tea to drink it would cause no end of confusion and annoyance I expect. A cream tea ALWAYS includes tea to drink or it isn't a cream tea.

BA6948

It is not in the same page I am afraid... and as someone on twitter has made the comparison between the Gin & Tonic where the pairing price was clearly displayed "pair it with a Gin for an extra Ł7"


The way it is displayed is completely misleading and come on, for a company that makes billions of $ in profits, they could be a bit generous and offer a cup of tea with their "centenary scone"... It shows how low BA has gone.

HIDDY

I have to agree that AT has traditionally always included a pot of tea. All BA has to do is up the price of the package and include tea....job done.

Then the coffee lovers will start complaining.

snaxmuppet

It would prove the point I am making and that is that most people would expect a cup of tea. Just because you don't expect a drink to be included doesn't mean that most others wouldn't.

m3red

DYKWIA

So, just "Afternoon".