NOTE: The next new Mouse Print* story will be published on January 7th.
We wrap up the year with another round of products that have been downsized.
Florida’s Natural
This has been the year of shrinking orange juice containers. First it was Tropicana and then Simply Orange followed suit. And now it’s Florida’s Natural that has gone from 59 ounces to just 52 ounces.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Cottonelle
Toilet paper is one of the categories subject to frequent downsizing. And a popular brand, Cottonelle has shrunk again. This time, it lost 40 sheets per roll. Thanks to our friend Richard G. for spotting this.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Charmin
But let’s not leave out the king of toilet tissue – Charmin. Their “strong” mega rolls went from 308 sheets to just 286 sheets per roll. Mega is not so mega anymore. Thanks to Richard G. again.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Sweet ‘n Low
Now here’s a product you would never expect to be downsized – those little Sweet ‘n Low packets. Eagled-eyed Nancy S. caught this inconspicuous change with each packet going from 0.04 ounces to 0.035 — five-thousands of an ounce less. But the packet says it is still equivalent to about two teaspoons of sugar.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Johnson’s Baby Shampoo
Next, we have Johnson’s Baby shampoo. Tom G. found that the old 15-ounce bottle is now just 13.6 ounces for the same price. It’s never too early to teach a child about downsizing.
*MOUSE PRINT:
CVS Cashews
Finally, we have CVS cashews. A sharp-eyed shopper, Mario C., caught the fact that CVS lopped off three-quarters of an ounce from their own brand of whole cashews (like it is not bad enough that they charge over $15 for slightly more than a pound of nuts). The package redesign gave the drug chain an opportunity to change the net weight too.
*MOUSE PRINT:
If you spot a product that has been recently downsized, please submit it to: edgar (at symbol) mouseprint.org
I just wonder which manufacturer (or powerful retailer) will have the audacity to redo each the size of some traditional standard item, such as a pound of butter or a gallon of milk. I would like to think that would be the last straw for me, but the truth is that I would probably just follow along with the rest of the lemmings.
Edgar replies: Kim, Costco has done that in some cases like for tuna. You can actually buy 7 ounce cans again… but they are almost 50% more expensive than the current 5-ounce ones.
I still remember when the 1 pound of coffee shrunk…and the ½ gallon of ice cream…
and it continues…
The toilet paper thing is what drives me nuts, the way they’ve narrowed the width of each roll to ridiculous levels. This is why I only buy toilet paper at Costco, where they have the old size, now labeled as something like “supersized rolls!” or some such silliness. That’s why I buy tuna there too – because the smaller-sized cans (deceptively designed to appear bigger) just piss me off.
Great Value Pure Cane Sugar was 5lb bag is now 4lb
Well Tasha you can only get Charmin in the larger sized sheets at Costco.
All other stores have the same sized sheet.
Well Kim Proemmel I think the gallon of Orange Juice from Tropicana could wind up getting cut to something smaller. I do not think that we will ever see Milk go below a gallon size.
I thought something was up with the Charmin mega rolls when we accidentally got them and they actually fit on our holder.
I’ve started to see some spring water manufacturers downsize 1 gallon bottles to 3 liters (a gallon is about 3.7 liters), so you can just change the units and keep it at a round number.
Please stop this raping of the American consumer. I would pay for any price increase
if it meant I was getting the same amount.
We don’t even know if they are STILL raising prices along with these deceptive tactics.
Pretty soon toilet paper will not wipe me correctly.
Getting fed up with products that don’t last as long or weight as much.
Is the economy bad or something that people can’t afford to pay extra?
I stopped buying cereal years ago because of this silly trend.
I can’t stop buying all food.
I encountered a recipe recently that needed a 6 oz. can of tomato paste. I bought what I knew was a 6 oz can, only to discover that it was actually 5.5 oz. Sometimes size matters!
Even the Charmin at costco has reduced their amount from 240 down to 221. Kirkland is still 425 but it shreds when I use it so I stick to Charmin,