yesterday was...

A good day for:

Brown paint makers, with the decision by Thorntons confectioners to paint their shopfronts in a chocolate colour in an attempt to boost sales. The current grey-and- pink colour scheme will be replaced by a shade technically described as burnt sienna. "The new colour reflects consumers' perception of chocolate," explained a spokesman for Thorntons.

A bad day for:

Match makers, who are being paid in matches in the Siberian city of Barnaul. A cash crisis and packaging shortage at the local match factory has resulted in workers being laid off, and each has been given 5,000 boxes of matches in lieu of wages. Factory managers thought it a good way to dispose of surplus stock and say the matches are worth half a million roubles (pounds 65).