Scanning the supermarket aisles last week, MrConsumer spotted a display of Sparkle paper towels. Some of the single roll packages were marked “Giant Roll” and some of them were marked “Big Roll.”
While the pattern on the towels was the same, and the price was the same, the UPC codes were different. Was one replacing the other?
A quick look at the fine print revealed the difference:
*MOUSE PRINT:
The question was which product was the new one? As it turns out, the smaller “giant” roll is the new one with six fewer sheets, while the larger “big” roll is the old one. Who would ever think that the “giant” roll was smaller than “big” roll?
Noting the incongruity between the size names and actual sizes, MrConsumer asked Georgia-Pacific, the maker of Sparkle, the following questions:
“What happened, and why the change, and why the change of name?”
They responded:
Thank you for contacting the Georgia-Pacific Consumer Response Center. Georgia-Pacific places tremendous importance on the feedback we receive from our consumers.
Periodically we change packaging due to marketing decisions, along with other trends in the marketplace. We certainly attempt to keep our packaging fresh and new. Thank you for being a loyal Sparkle Towel user. I certainly hope this information helps and have a great day!
Nothing like a non-answer.
Next time they downsize, maybe the new package will be called “Gargantuan”.
UPDATE: A physical count of the number of sheets on each roll revealed that BOTH had identical amounts — 92 sheets per roll — more than the label indicated. Go figure.
Georgia Pacific’s answer was definitely a “non answer”. They are saving a considerable amount of money by giving us less sheets and charging the same price. On the other hand, it may be saving quite a few of our valuable trees! So, grin and bear it!
When the companies are contacted for a comment, are they told that their responses will probably appear in mouseprint.org?
Edgar replies: Questions are posed from the average consumer’s standpoint, and not as a media request.
So much for honesty in packaging !
At least the # of sheets seems fairly easy to see so that comparisons can be made to other brands.
It’s really unfair when you have to search for finite print of ounces or # count.
Everything today is being down-sized at the same price, so why should paper towels be any different?
Trees are saved when we use fewer sheets, not when companies sell fewer sheets per roll. All the latter means is that we have to buy a new roll sooner.
As with the Incredible Shrinking Ice Cream Containers, I have to wonder: Where does this end?
SPARKLE
Super Duper Enormous Roll!
4 2-PLY SHEETS
I wonder if the size of the sheets are getting smaller too?
There’s a similar confusing sizing scheme with toilet paper using words like Big, Giant, Super, etc. The packaging will say things like “equivalent to 64 regular rolls†but there’s nothing that defines what a “regular roll†is. This can make it difficult to decide if you’re getting the best value when buying the Super package on-sale vs the Giant package at the regular price.
I think these paper products ought to be sold by weight, not number of sheets. Maybe the one with fewer sheets has larger sheets…there could be just as much material in the package, but with fewer, larger sheets so you run out of it faster.
It’s more obvious if you look at, say, the Brawny pick-a-size where the sheets are half-size. Much more sensible, somewhat greener, too. But if you look at the price per sheet, it will look fabulous. But you need to think twice before jumping to any conclusions about it.
What did our parents use before paper towels came along? Oh, yes, RAGS. Maybe now is the time to stop using paper towels altogether.
As long as those RAGS are only made from hemp!
Peace Out!
Shawn
Dear Sirs,
After watching one of the Chrysler commercials which promise that if we purchase one of their cars, we will have to pay only $2.99 a gallon for gas for the next three years, I got to wondering this: The program is for 87 octane gas or diesel fuel, so how many of those qualifying cars does the manufacture recommend using 87 octane and how many does it recommend using 89 octane?
Thanks for a great website and service.
Ron Reed
What does that have to do with paper towels Ron? Are you sniffing the 87 octane?
Hey, Give G-P some credit. At least they changed the name on the roll to give you a hint that there was a difference between the two rolls. If they had continued to call it “big roll” would you have noticed the difference without checking the number of sheets in a roll? Probably not. The Ice Cream companies, coffee companies and candy bar companies did not give you any cluses that they had downsized the size of their products. Even if it was subtle, the change of label was a clue to look at the package a little closer. Yes, they did raise the price per unit slightly but they also gave you a hint to expect some kind of a change. I haven’t seen any of the others do that.
When I buy stuff like this, I check the price per unit that is always on display (at least at the supermarkets where I shop). I do not know nor care how many exact sheets are there as long as it’ll last me awhile, only that they are 2-ply and what price per 100-count (or whatever) they are. I guess for those with brand loyalty that wouldn’t work.
They actually change the size because of the gas prices, it is determined by weight, they cut the sheets to save money on gas the trucks deliver. Cutting the sheets cuts down on the weight, hense less gas.
Quote:
They responded:
Thank you for contacting the Georgia-Pacific Consumer Response Center. Georgia-Pacific places tremendous importance on the feedback we receive from our consumers.
Periodically we change packaging due to marketing decisions, along with other trends in the marketplace. We certainly attempt to keep our packaging fresh and new. Thank you for being a loyal Sparkle Towel user. I certainly hope this information helps and have a great day!
Now my speculation of the interpretation:
Thank you for contacting the Georgia-Pacific Consumer Response Center. [ we love offering canned responses because we know that people can’t tell the difference.] Georgia-Pacific places tremendous importance on the feedback we receive from our consumers. [yup, we put them on printouts that are immediately fed to the shredder, which becomes pulp for our future paper towels.]
Periodically we change packaging due to marketing decisions [some marketing genius wants to look good by increasing revenue], along with other trends in the marketplace [we realized that our competition was making more money so we made changes to increase revenues]. We certainly attempt to keep our packaging fresh and new [as long as it increases our revenue or we’ll have to immediately change it again]. Thank you for being a loyal Sparkle Towel user [gotta make you feel good about yourself even though we know you aren’t loyal, so we’re lying through our teeth since we never actually ready your message]. I certainly hope this information helps [because we really want you to think we’re on your side] and have a great day! [like we’re going to tell you to have a miserable day? we’re not selling facial tissues for when you cry over our non-response….hmmm…maybe we can start promoting these as the alternative to tissues…HEY–MARKETING TEAM…]
the trick is always to take your eyes off the weight/count and focus it on a new “feature”
when i ate fruity pebbles cereal for the first time since back in 1989, it tasted exactly the same. YET, the box (i am sure it was downsized) said “now, new and improved flavor!”
i would notice the change that was supposed to be there. i did not. the taste matched exactly what i remember from 1989.
from now on, as soon as you see new and improved or such gimmicks, quickly focus your eyes on the content of the product. that is my trigger from now on. very few products are improved over and over. staying the same, especially in taste, is what makes the product a household name brand.
Where is the trick? They clearly label the product yield on the package. They are obviously making no effort to hide the number of sheets on the roll. The fact that it changed is irrelevant. The information the consumer needs to make an informed decision is disclosed in a perfectly clear, legible, and comprehensible way. The words “Giant” and “Big” are synonymous. One is simply hyperbolic of the other, but they both mean the same thing.
At the end of the day, the price is marked, as are the number of sheets on the roll, and probably the size of each sheet as well. From that information, the consumer can calculate the value of the product in absolute terms, such as dollars per square foot of product.
Sorry, this isn’t deception.
Yeouwch. The update saying about 92 sheets (more than mentioned) made me go like “LOLWUT??!”. Might be the first case when a company gives more than it seems to. Anyway, thanks for this fabulous site.
Years ago, Andy Rooney mentioned the BEST way to check value for money spent on paper goods (apples to apples, though 2-ply vs 2 ply, etc) is to look at the SQUARE FOOTAGE you get, not the number of sheets. Take a look at this with toilet paper, for example…. WOW. I’m in the wrong business!!!!!!!!!! These paper towels, who knows how many square feet? The sheet count is irrelevant. Just came across this site, it’s great! I’m not the only one who’s annoyed!
Sounds like the Georgia-Pacific Consumer Response Center is staffed by former members of the Marketing Department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. In other words, “A bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.”
Thanks to the late Douglas Adams for the quote.
This is going on with the other brands as well. I had a problem with all these “big rolls” barely fitting on my paper towel rack at home. Now all of them slide on effortlessly. I know the rack didn’t magically get larger.
Counting the sheets (as suggested above) doesn’t always work — I have noticed that with some brands the “sheet count” remains the same but the size of the sheets have gotten smaller. The only way I found this out is because I buy in bulk and had some paper towels in the closet from a year ago. I had just gotten down to the last couple of rolls when I went out and bought more. When I was in the bigboxmegadiscount store I had noticed that the mega-pack seemed smaller (it used to not fit in the cart and now it did). So I looked at it and it had the same # of rolls as it had in the past and each roll had the same # of sheets. So I thought I must be imagining things…until I got home and put a roll on the dispenser. Not the usual tight fit — the roll slid right on and had about 1/4″ to spare. Then I tore off a sheet and looked at it closely and that is when I noticed the sheet size was smaller. So I went upstairs and got one of the two rolls I had left over from last year’s purchase and put it next to the new one. Same height…MUCH different “width” AND I also noticed a texture difference — like cheaper materials were being used. It used to have a softer “cushier” feel to it and now it is thinner and rougher. I also discovered you have to use more of these sheets to do the same cleaning job as just one or two of the old ones. So not only are you paying more, getting less but the quality has gone down and you have to use more which means you have to buy more sooner.
When buying paper products like paper towels and toilet paper, I watch for the total sq. footage of paper, not the count of sheets etc. I mean, a simple cut in the size of sheet will yield more sheets with no real change in the product. I compare whether they are 1 ply or 2 ply and the total paper area. In fact I like some of the newer paper towel rolls we get that have half-sheets. Sometimes you don’t need an entire sheet from a standard roll for the purpose you need it for. Why waste the extra half sheet? If you need a full sheet, then take two, need 1 and 1/2, then you can.
I have used the BIG ROLL SPARKLE for years.The only paper towel I bought.Last week I bought the new ones that have the shortened sheets like some of the other paper towell companies make.I did not realize there had been a change til I opened them. My whole family of four are fussing about the shortened towels. We went through 2 rolls in the time I would usually use only 1.We like the full size sheets and always avoid shortened ones.After years of using sparkle towels I will now be looking for a new towel.I usually buy the 8 roll pack and the new ones are just not economical and just not practical.