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Valentine’s Day Candy Hearts May Mislead

Little has changed in the Valentine’s Day candy business since we called out companies two years ago for grossly overpackaging their large heart-shaped boxes given the few pieces of chocolate inside.

Perusing the candy aisles last week, MrConsumer found the same large Russell Stover candy heart — 10 inches high — still with only 9 pieces of chocolate inside for $7.99.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Russell Stover heart with 9 pieces of chocolate

You would think, however, that a better brand charging $20 a box wouldn’t play these games. Think again.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Lindt Valentine's heart

This big box of Lindt chocolate isn’t even half a pound and only has 12 pieces. At least some brands are putting the number of chocolates inside right on the front of the box.

Others make you do the math by checking the nutrition facts statement and multiplying the serving size by the number of servings in the package. This Ghirardelli box, which is only 5.5 ounces, has 15 pieces of chocolate. They must be very small. And this large Godiva box has only four ounces of tiny chocolates for $18.99.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Ghirardelli heart

Godiva heart

It seems like manufacturers strive to maximize the box size while minimizing the contents. So don’t let their large packages deceive or embarrass you. Check what’s actually inside before you buy.

And if you find that chocolate hearts are just not your thing this year, the Walgreens online weekly ad has some other gift suggestions for your valentine. Warning: risqué content…not for prudes!

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Stop & Shop Educates Shoppers About Making Digital Coupons Easy to Use

SS digital coupon itemsIn December. we told you that the largest supermarket chain in the Northeast, Stop & Shop, was rolling out Savings Center kiosks to all its stores to make using digital coupons easy for everyone including shoppers who are not particularly tech savvy.

All you have to do now to load all that week’s advertised digital coupons onto your account is to scan your loyalty card or enter your phone number at the kiosk as you enter the store. No more futzing with the store’s website or app to locate and load each coupon individually.

This move by Stop & Shop came after a two-year effort by MrConsumer and four other national consumer organizations to sensitize supermarket CEOs about the discriminatory effect that digital coupons had on vulnerable people many of whom were not able to use them to lower their grocery bill.

Now that the kiosks have been installed in all their 350+ stores, Stop & Shop is going one step further and has started airing a 15-second TV commercial to educate shoppers on how easy it is now to use digital coupons.

When Stop & Shop first told me a few months ago that they were going to air a commercial about the kiosks, I was thrilled because you can’t just install new technology in a store and hope people will find and use it. They also said they had a surprise in store for me. When I watched the ad for the first time recently, it wasn’t obvious to me what the surprise was. Then it hit me.
MrConsumer's caricature

The company said that creating a caricature of me was their way to give a subtle nod to my advocacy around this issue.

I am humbled.

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Here We Shrink Again – Year-End 2024

The next new Mouse Print* story: January 6th.

As we wrap up 2024, it is time to take a last look at some products that suffered the effects of shrinkflation. Here are some more products that have been recently downsized.

Chex Mix

Snack foods are one of the common categories of groceries to shrink. And Chex is no exception. Their family size bags which used to be 15 ounces have gone down to 13.5 ounces.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Chex Mix Chex Mix Bold


Secret Deodorant

Solid deodorant packages tend to be deceptive. The dispenser appears to be pretty tall, but if you look carefully at the one on the right below, you will see that the fairly thick platform that raises the stick deodorant starts halfway up the package. There is no content in the bottom half.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Secret Deodorant

And to add insult to injury, the new tubes went from 2.6 ounces to 2.37 ounces. Thanks to Nora F. for this submission.


Q-Tips

Warehouse club packs of Q-Tips have been shrinking. The old packs combined contained 1875 Q-Tips, but the new ones have 125 fewer Q-Tips — just 1750. Either way, this seems like a lifetime supply for many people.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Q-Tips

People have also been complaining online about the amount of cotton on the ends of Q-Tips. They say it has been reduced. Thanks to Glen B. for finding this product.


Charmin Strong

Our ace downsizing spotter, Richard G., discovered that Charmin in the red package finally downsized again (the soft version in the blue package did that last year). Now each roll has 330 sheets instead of the old 363.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Charmin Mega XL

Along with the reduction in sheets came a name change. P&G retired the name “Super Mega” and renamed the product Charmin Mega XL. They did this apparently so they could introduce an even larger roll called Mega XXL. (It would have been odd to have had to call it “Super Super Mega.”)


Tyson Chicken Nuggets

Don’t look now, but you probably lost 10% of the nuggets from each of Tyson’s two-pound bags. You now only get 29 ounces.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Tyson Chicken Nuggets

Richard G. spotted this one too, along with their chicken patties going from 10 in a package to just eight.


Bar Soap

The ever-shrinking soap bar continues to shrink. Now 3.17-ounce Dove bars are only 2.6 ounces. And Lever 2000 went from four ounces to 3.75.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Dove soap

Lever 2000


Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes

What has Betty Crocker been cooking up lately? Smaller boxes of her au gratin potatoes, that’s what. They went down from 4.7 ounces to just four ounces. Thanks to both Nick B. and Richard G. for spotting this change.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes


Jif Peanut Butter To Go Cups

Richard G. discovered that little cups of Jif peanut butter that kids might eat as a snack went down from 1.5 ounces per cup to just 1.1 ounces.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Jif to go cups


Lorna Doone Snack Pack

Lastly, a childhood cookie favorite, Lorna Doone, lost two of its six cookies in each snack pack, according to Susan L. So they’ve gone from an ounce-and-a-half down to just one ounce.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Lorna Doone


If you find a product that has been downsized very recently, please take a picture of the old version and the new version, side-by-side, if possible, clearly displaying the net content statements on both. You can email that to Edgar (at symbol) MousePrint.org . Thanks.