On behalf of Coca-Cola Limited, I would like to reply to the letter from John Moss headlined, 'Yuletide fiasco' (South China Morning Post, December 22). While our company regrets that Mr Moss does not believe the 'Winter Magic' event to have been to his satisfaction, more than 55,000 people had attended by December 22 and the response from visitors has been positive overall, particularly from the children at whom it is primarily aimed. The looks of delight on thousands of faces every day prove that 'Winter Magic' has succeeded in bringing delight to the people of Hong Kong, especially children who have not seen snow before. It is also very important that your readers know that our company will not, nor has it ever intended to, make a profit from this event. Coca-Cola China Limited has spent $13 million on it and with the anticipated $5 million in revenue from sale of tickets, clearly making a profit was not the intention. This is Coca-Cola's contribution to bringing something new, different and exciting to Hong Kong. It is designed purely for the enjoyment of the people of Hong Kong and visitors to our city, not as a money-making venture. We are sorry that because of logistical issues we need to back away from part of our initial plan. However, we have undertaken immediate measures to ensure that 'Winter Magic' gives as much pleasure as possible to adults and children alike. For example, we are now producing twice the amount of snow a day (14 tonnes) as we were on the first day and have built a room more than 30 square metres in size for people to make their own snowballs. We are sorry to have a disappointed minority of consumers, but we are still proud to have been able to bring a little winter magic to the children here this Christmas. ELSIE TSUI External Affairs Manager Hong Kong Division Coca-Cola China Limited
