Have you read any of Philip Clarke's tweets (twitter.com/clarkepatesco)?

In an otherwise low-key start for Tesco's new CEO, he's been informing his 2,767 followers (including rivals, I can assure you), of his whereabouts.

On 3 March he was tweeting "the UK price guarantee is gaining cut through. Well done to the team." On 18 March he was "in a social media and social commerce discussion". On 19 March he was tweeting about The Grocer 33.

There followed a radio silence (as it were) till Tuesday 22 March, when he apologised.

"Sorry been rather quiet last few days," he explained, due to "a family illness". And I assume (and hope) a speedy recovery has been made as he was back tweeting again as he toured a Fresh & Easy, spoke to the Tesco Japan team, and visited Dunnhumby in Cincinatti. ("If you're ever in Cincinnati, try Jungle Jims - a unique food store," he wrote on 25 March)

But he's been silent, ever since, about the price guarantee, and no wonder: Double the Difference has been a PR disaster. As The Grocer revealed last week, Tesco was forced into a humiliating climbdown. The error has not been as costly, in financial terms, as Hoover's infamous promotion (or Fresh & Easy for that matter).

But as we explain this week, Tesco inadvertently created a new promotion mechanic: buy one, get it free, plus cash (BOGIFPC). And the fallout has been incredible, with a thread on moneysavingexpert maxing out at 10,000 comments a first for the savvy shopper site. A second thread has since been added.

The Double the Difference débâcle goes to show how flustered Tesco has been by Asda's Price Guarantee. Would Sir Terry Leahy have allowed DTD to go through? Was it, indeed, the last decision he signed off?

We may never know. But it's a horrible honeymoon present for Philip Clarke.

I dunno about his tweets. But DTD sure makes him look like a twit.

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