We continue our spring fling this week with six more products that have been subject to shrinkflation recently.
| Crest 3D White |
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P&G has been downsizing toothpaste repeatedly. The tubes are getting smaller, but somehow the packaging seems to stay about the same. The latest change was found by Richard G who sent these pictures. The 3.8 oz. tubes of Crest 3D White recently went down half an ounce to 3.3 oz. Tom B. also reported that Crest Enamel Repair was downsized to 3.7 oz. from 4.1 oz.
*MOUSE PRINT:
| Dove Dark Chocolate |
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Once upon a time, these bags were over 10 ounces, now Dove dark chocolate bags are only 7.61 ounces. Thanks again to Richard G. for spotting this item.
*MOUSE PRINT:
| Tide |
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P&G appears to have removed some of the water from Tide Free & Gentle because bottles went from 92 oz. to 84 oz. but each one still claims to be able to do 64 loads of laundry. Thanks to Shannon R. for this picture.
*MOUSE PRINT:
And to add insult to injury, P&G downsized the big jugs of Tide Oxi Odor AGAIN. This time it lost another 14 ounces, but magically you still get 94 loads theoretically from the new version. Thanks to Brendan B. for spotting this.
*MOUSE PRINT:
| Trader Joe’s Sparkling Water |
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Zhora V. spotted a big change in Trader Joe’s Sparkling water because the bottles didn’t feel as hefty as they used to. No wonder… the new ones are 8.5 ounces less. And it was now plain water instead of mineral water. What isn’t clear is how the price changed and when the new size was introduced.
*MOUSE PRINT:
| Walmart Equate Shampoo |
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Many brands of shampoo shrink over time, and store brands are no exception. If you see Head & Shoulders downsize, the retailer’s own brand can’t be far behind. Here, Walmart has removed an ounce from its Equate dandruff shampoo and conditioner.
*MOUSE PRINT:
If you find a product recently hit by shrinkflation, please take side-by-side pictures of the old and new, including the net weight or net count and email them to Edgar(at)ConsumerWorld.org . Thanks!
Cheezit crackers have just shrunk to a much smaller box.
Again, Is there not a way to draw more attention to unit pricing? Seems the average consumer just does not know about it— makes it SO much easier to make purchase decisions, and you don’t have to worry about the nefarious ways of the chocolate , detergent, and all the other packagers.
Spend just a bit of time learning your proper unit pricing price points, and the buying decision for EVERYTHING you buy is as easy as when you get , say, gasoline, or fruit.
Just seems that would be more productive and efficient versus running around with a magnifying glass to learn that “oooh! the Doritos? bag in now 7.3 ounces, not 8.2!”
The worst part about unit pricing is that the customer is often left to figuring it out themselves.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked up to a set of products on the shelf and seen even different products from the same brand using different unit pricing. Unit pricing on the tag is useless if one tag is per ounce, one tag is per serving, and one tag is per package.
Sodas are a good example, where 12-packs from different brands will be measured in different unit prices, and even if you can get 12-packs measured in ounces they’ll measure 2L by the package and the 16.9oz bottles by bottle.
The trouble is, Matt, no one is going to start to memorize unit prices so you can recognize that Wheaties was previously 10.3 cents per ounce and now it is 10.9 an ounce.
I agree, the different unit prices are a problem, but it’s the exception, and it’s easily solved in 2 seconds by the calculator that everyone has on the phone in their pocket.
But, Edgar, I disagree with you. The same mind that memorizes that Wheaties are $3.99 a box, can memorize it’s 10.9 cents an ounce. It’s like anything, pretty easy once you get used to it (doesn’t take long at all). It’s what I do, and no one has ever confused me with Einstein.
What can we do to fight this?
The only way to combat it is to learn unit pricing (see above). With a million products and a million package sizes, the manufacturers will be doing this shrinkflation nonsense forever.
It’s great, you can quickly get used to it and then you don’t need to worry about scan prices or package sizes!
It’s like when you see a gasoline price, or a price for apples, and you know right away if it’s a “buy” for you.
I’m not a fan of shrinkflation, but no need to exaggerate it. For the Trader Joe’s Sparkling Water, the decrease is 8.5 ounces per bottle, not 11 ounces as you state.
Thanks, John. I corrected the amount.
The thing I hate the most about shrinkflation is when they change standard sizes, like half gallons of ice cream and half gallons of orange juice. I’ve already seen 9 packs of eggs, before long we’ll be buying cookies by the serving.
Example, you can’t make as many cupcakes from new sizes of cake mix. How many sandwiches can you make from a downsized can of tuna? My current Senator is running on fighting “greedflation” and its cousin “shrinkflation.”
It’s also incredibly short-sighted. I remember when they first lowered half-gallons of ice cream to 1.5 quarts – my first thought was, “How incredibly stupid! This is a one-time fix that can’t be reversed, and can’t be repeated.”
I still feel the same way, yet they persist.
It’s getting really bad when they downsizing water! Water should be free!
Water isn’t free. Everybody pays for water in one way or the other. A homeowner pays for water, sewage, garbage, etc. If you are a renter, all of that is figured into your monthly rent!
You forgot to include the ironic change in Dove chocolates – the word “PROMISES” has been raised in prominence to celebrate the item’s newer, shrinkflated size.
We (U.S. consumers) need a website devoted just to shrinkflation, so offenders can be highlighted and ridiculed – broadly, and publicly.
Have you looked into this at all, Edgar?
George… there is a message board on Reddit devoted to shrinkflation. (Much of it tends to be products from overseas, however.)