Actually, it could be about any packaged product on the market today. The incredible shrinking product.
It started with the size of the cardboard roll inside toilet paper rolls. The cardboard cylinder is noticeably (i.e. MUCH) wider in diameter than it used to be. This means the manufacturer can put less actual product (toilet paper) on the cardboard roll. BUT it will look the same size from the outside. It isn’t. It’s less toilet paper. More air, less product.
But I really went ballistic when I opened one of those new small cans of tuna – you know – the 5oz cans, so pathetic! that pretend they are as large as the 6oz.
I opened this baby up, squeezed out the excess liquid – oil in this case, though I usually buy tuna packed in water – and looked at what was left. Almost nothing! That’s what was left. Enough for a micro-tuna sandwich. A bite-sized tuna sandwich. The weight was all water, or oil in this case.
Same weight, same size can, less tuna.
I know someone has done the numbers of this, and has polled the folks about it – and probably people hate to see prices go up more than anything.
But I feel positively ripped off when the can size and price remain the same – suggesting that everything about the product is the same as always – but the amount of actual substance inside has shrunken drastically. Nobody likes being made a fool of. Especially moi!
Nothing new here. This has happened before many times. This is just a stage in a recurring cycle.
This is what happens when Economism replaces Real Culture.
Those not burdened with the ideology passed off as “economics” and “history” at places-on-a-hill will understand this cycle well.
Yes and now in order to make Mom’s favorite tuna casserole I have to buy two cans and have a few ounces leftover (I NEVER innovate on Mom’s recipies!)
Pet peeve of mine too. Case in point: the new laundry soap boxes. Does it really take less soap to do the same load, or are they hoping you’ll use the same amount of soap and just buy laundry soap more frequently? Grrr.
Why buy canned tuna? Spend more and get more–buy salmon at Dave’s. The garlic canned salmon is the only canned fish I eat regularly. Fresh fish is so much better–tastier and probably healthier. But Dave does such a good job on this salmon that it is well worth the price. Then there is the question of whether the can has both the weight of the contents and the net weight of the contents–the weight of everything minus the weight of the water or oil.
With the holiday baking season looming, what about the criminal emergence of the 4-lb bag of sugar for which we are now expected to pay the same exorbitant price s the 5-lb bag of yore? (Like we won’t notice.)Or the packaged pasta that actually resembles a reasonable deal, until you notice you’re only getting 12 oz, instead of the usual 16?
So keep on ranting. You are not alone.
Haagen-Daz ice cream made their cartons smaller a few years ago. I suppose it’s helpful to read the shelf labels to know how much you’re paying per ounce for various products. But that’s how stores like Costco lure us into buying giant sizes of products we may or may not use. We think we’re getting a bargain.
“Those not burdened with the ideology passed off as “economics†and “history†at places-on-a-hill will understand this cycle well.”
Really bizarre comment, Frank. I would have thought those departments might be caricatured, if anything, as obsessively pointing out the recurring boom-and-bust, rip-off nature of capitalism. Or have they changed their tune to some neo-con paean in the last ten years? Hard to read your comment as anything other than confused, knee-jerk UCSC criticism. “I’ve seen it all before. You damn eggheads don’t know nothing. Now get offa my lawn!”
Yes, this is a common marketing ploy to improve the bottom line. I noticed several years ago that Nabisco graham crackers were now coming in 14.4 ounce boxes. 14.4 ounces? What’s the deal with that? Why not 14? Why not 15? Then it dawned on me. The original box contained one pound, i.e., 16 ounces, of product. Reduce that by 10% and you get 14.4 ounces. Some bean counter in a cubicle somewhere decided that Nabisco could improve the profitability of their graham crackers by a nice round 10%. Voila! 14.4 ounces. I stopped buying them.
Same goes for Haagen Daaz ice cream. It used to come in 16 ounce containers. You could get it on sale for 2 for $5. Now it comes in 14 ounce containers and sells for 2 for $6 on sale. I no longer buy that either. This is the ultimate sacrifice. A bowl of HD chocolate and rum raisin is better than sex!
Christina, I could not agree more with your post. I don’t mind when prices are raised whether on a restaurant’s menu or on packaged goods as long as I’m getting the same product. I don’t like getting less for more. The consumer is being hit twice. For instance, this past week I bought a rotisserie chicken from a local grocery store noticing that the price had gone up two dollars. When I got home, I realized that the chicken was considerably smaller than what I was used to getting. As a result my chicken and dumplings recipe had less chicken in it than I like.
Of course, I will complain to the store the next time I go in, but nothing will result.