Shell make a press ad that claims their Canadian oil sand extraction operation was sustainable. While the majorty of us ignore this because when the words “Canadian+oil+sand+extraction+operation” appear, our brains shut down, the World Wildlife Fund in the UK looked into the claim and decided it was “bullwash” or “greenshit,” as I call it. More importantly the Advertising Standards Authority agreed with them. Keen to remind us that the WWF is there for the environment, not just pandas, the charity has taken a huge screen at Waterloo to run a 20” ad telling commuters how Shell tried to pull the wool over their eyes. It’s a good reminder to us all that the WWF exists and isn’t in fact the World Wrestling Foundation. I have it on good authority that HSBC has just made a donation of $33m to the charity to support environmental projects over the next five years, so this is a serious contender for your attention. Shell agrees that to meet vast energy requirements it had to look beyond normal sources of oil and gas, and that includes unconventional rescources , such as oil sands. But because Shell had not provided evidence that it was “effectively” managing carbon emissions from its oil sands projects “in order to limit climate change”, the ASA deemed that the ad was misleading.

If you are dangerously thin and a fan or clothes that fall apart at the end of a night out, you undoubtedly shop at Zara. The Spanish fashion chain (owned by Inditex) has seen sales rocket up by 9% which means it has overtaken The Gap as the worlds favourite tailor. You may not have thought, but Zara has been Europe’s biggest clothes chain since 2005 when it overtook H&M. Now, the expansion plans coupled with a weak dollar meant that Gap’s preppy, elder crown was ready for the taking – some achievement when you consider they have 3,100 stores worldwide and 150,000 staff. While Gap is struggling to maintain its customers, the arrival of its up market Banana Republic brand has been performing well – despite the lack of air conditioning in their Regent Street branch where they refuse to have any items on sale. Fact fans: Zara was started as long ago as 1968 when Amancio Ortega (still the big boss) took a break from sleeping and boning tourists to make and sell bathrobes from his bedroom in north-west Spain.

Tesco is investing £60m large into branching out into India – not stores as such, but a wholesale cash-and-carry business in Mumbai. Tesco also signed a deal to help the Indian equivalent of Virgin, Tata, develop its hypermarket business from 4 to over 50 stores in 5 years. This isn’t the only foreign clime a career with Tesco can take you: it also has businesses in Europe, China, Thailand, and (albeit struggling) in the USA. It’s another thumbs up to the importance of India in the world’s economy, that has already seen the US Tesco rival operate over there alongside Bharti Enterprises. If you’re wondering why all these giants feel the need to snuggle up to a local firm to get work done down there, Indian law bars large overseas brands from operating at a retail level unless through wholesale, licence or franchise arrangements. Enjoy the anonymity of Tesco while you can friends.