[Note: Our trusty mouse will return on January 6th or 7th.]
Continuing our series of products that have been downsized recently…
*MOUSE PRINT:

Bounty eliminated six paper towels from each roll here. And despite the shrinkage, they are still called “giant” rolls.
*MOUSE PRINT:

P&G continued downsizing some of its paper products by removing eight diapers from its Pampers Swaddlers boxes, but the price stayed the same.
*MOUSE PRINT:

If you had been looking for a cold, refreshing treat this past summer, you would have discovered that Snickers ice cream bars are now 10% smaller than they used to be. Thanks to John M. for the photograph taken at Walgreens.
It will still be a giant roll when they cut it down to 50 sheets a roll.
Always buy per unit price people.
And the giant roll is likely going to remain the “relatively” giant roll because all the smaller quantity packages will shrink too.
The Bounty one for me is the worst. Both packaging say 8 of these rolls = 12 regular rolls. However, going from 72 to 66 sheets makes the math of 8 of these rolls equal to exactly 11 regular rolls. Continuing to use 8 = 12 is an outright lie on their part and is the kind of misleading advertising that should get companies in trouble. It is one thing for a change to be buried in fine print (not to say that is the right thing to do), but it goes another step to outright lie on the packaging. Would be curious to hear their defense for that.
Just save this column for December of 2015 and adjust all the sizes – downward. Eventually a giant roll will be two paper towels and toilet paper will consist of your bare hand.
Wayne R is right on the money as unit pricing is the key to comparing true value. Manufacturers will always be adjusting their packaging and pricing, or some combination. The beauty of unit pricing is the transparency that is maintained through these marketing strategies. I would not waste my time focusing on the virtue of the manufacturers, rather just make wise purchasing decisions. Determine the minimum quality within a product category that meets your needs and then compare the unit pricing for those items that meet those quality criteria. On a similar note, consumers should also periodically re-evaluate the ingredient list when relevant, since manufactures will change them out. Manufactures will change out an ingredient to improve quality, lower retail cost or increase profits. Price is never the only appropriate criteria to look at. Beware of changes in quality. They both figure in overall value, and each consumer must judge for themselves as to the personal value these products represent.
Not 11 regular rolls but 12 regular rolls as the size of a regular roll is smaller now.
Unit pricing is not always best because they have different sizes, select a size for instance so 2 sheets equal 1 regularsheet yet the price is per sheet so it looks like your getting more.
You need to look at each product, size of the sheets, number of plies, select a size or regular then use a calculator and divide price by number of sheets.
Even looking at unit price on different brands can be confusing.
At walmart some liquid items are per ounce, some per quart. Some per pound as stupid as that is.
Ice cream can be per pint, per quart or per ounce so you really have to us the calculator to make it all per ounce so you can compare fair and square.