MrConsumer was invited to Canada a couple of weeks ago to talk about product downsizing on CBC’s national consumer TV show called Marketplace. Surprisingly, or maybe not, many of the categories of products that have been downsized in the United States have also shrunk in Canada.
On to the products!
*MOUSE PRINT:
Ultra Dawn is undergoing a size reduction right now in both Canada and the U.S., from 709 ml (24 oz.) to 638 ml (21.6 oz). Curiously, the old bottle claimed to clean 50% more greasy dishes than the non-concentrated Dawn, but the new bottle claims it can clean twice the number.
*MOUSE PRINT:
There are no claims of “new improved formula” so one has to wonder how the cleaning efficiency magically improved so much. We asked P&G what their basis was for the new claim… and surprise, they didn’t respond.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Head and Shoulders shampoo was also in the process of being downsized, with both these products on the shelf at the same time. The old and new bottles are identical, but with 20 ml less shampoo in the new one. This change is also going on right now in the U.S.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Just as happened in the U.S. with various cereal brands, Kellogg’s applied the shrink ray to Frosted Flakes in Canada reducing packages from 445 grams to 425 grams.
*MOUSE PRINT:
The Ivory body wash used the old “new and improved” trick to draw your attention away from the net weight statement, showing a drop from 24 ounces to 21 ounces.
*MOUSE PRINT:
And Huggies Pull-ups are now short two poops.
Imagined Package Mouse Print: “In coordination with Kellogg, Huggies’ has anticipated a two poop reduction in output and altered assembly line practices accordingly.”
I believe that some companies are also diluting products.I got a old dial body wash and compared to a newer one.The older was much thicker and made much more lather,for the same quantity,vs the newer one.Water is the primary ingredient for both,so I assume I just got more water and less soap,in the newer version.
Well jrj90620 water is a really cheap ingredient. Diluting a product is very very sneaky as well.
A weekly reminder to never stop paying attention to the package contents. Manufacturers can change them on a whim and not bother to inform anyone.
I suppose Dawn’s change from 50% more to 2x more could be done by reformulating the Original Dawn to be less effective (and simply don’t release it for sale for comparisions).
I have a few classics. McDonalds put three pickles on their burgers for years, I did not like pickles so I picked them off. then I noticed it was only two pickles, times the trillion burgers they sell, who else noticed?
Then there is Red Lobster, who ceased serving fresh ground black pepper. I was told it was because of the time it cost servers…hmmmm.
Wayne R. ~ A good reminder.
Michelle Marsden ~ Did the Red Lobster spokesperson spout that line in a Pat Paulson dead pan delivery, straight face and all?
Ivory also downsized the print size used to show the amount of body wash in the downsized pack!!!
Noted is that in the new reduced Kellogg’s Flakes package, the reduced product weight is pretty well disguised within the bowl of cereal.
These companies just prove thst people have no idea of what they pay for.
These days people only care about cheap. No one wants to,pay for anything and if a company has a choice between being honest and raising the price and keep the quality the same or keeping the price the same and cheating the consumer i think they know that a price increase means many lost customers.
Think about it like this..you are a giant company profucing consumables at a profit marging of 20%. Your cost are rising and you know a price increase means lost sales so what do they do, they cut product size or quality so as not to lose market share.
Now you have to do some extrapelating and you will see even more suprises.
You down size a product you save the amount you are not using, you save on reduced packaging, you save on shipping cost, you can now put more packages in a shipment without increasing the weight.
So not only do they save on product cost but all other prduct packaging and shipping as well.
It really adds up. Suave shampoo used to be 15 oz, then it went to 15oz which means for every 15bottles they sell they now get an extra bottle. You sell 150 bottles and use same amount of product previously used in 159+ bottles. So they now get an extra 9 bottles for every 150 tey sell. Again with less packaging.
What a deal…for them.