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Is This the Future of Consumer Journalism?

Last week, we examined what appeared to be a news story from USA Today touting discount site Temu.com. On closer inspection, however, that “story” may have actually been an advertisement, but it was not labeled as such.

This week we focus on another news story that popped up in MrConsumer’s consumer news feed recently. It was entitled, “The Nuclear Savings Rule: 10 Frugal Living Tips from the 1950s Era.”

It sounded like old-fashioned savings advice that might be of interest to Consumer World readers even today. Some enterprising reporter, I thought, must have done an awful lot of research to go back 70 years to find consumer tips from the ’50s.

Here’s that Go Banking Rates story to quickly browse — just look at the bolded tips.

AI Written Story GO Banking

Scroll down the story.

If you skip to the bottom of the story, there is a surprising editor’s note.

*MOUSE PRINT:

AI Editor's Note

Say what? This story was written by a computer using artificial intelligence and then fact-checked by a human editor. Wow! Or maybe I should say “oy.” Is this what journalism of the near future is going to look like — computers do the research and write the stories, and then a human double-checks them?

Please share your thoughts in the comments.

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Is It Advertising or a Bona Fide News Story?

Recently in his news feed of consumer-related stories, MrConsumer got a link to an USA Today article questioning whether the bargain website, Temu.com, was offering legitimate deals. It was entitled, “Why Temu is so cheap – the secret behind Temu’s budget-friendly products.”

[Note: graphical excerpt of the USA Today article has been removed.]

The story was a very positive portrayal of the company not mentioning any of the negatives that often appear in other news articles. This USA Today story ended in part with this:

To sum up, Temu is real and safe to shop on. Its affordability is also no accident. It’s the result of a carefully designed business model… Its commitment to customer satisfaction, secure transactions, and quality assurance make it a reliable platform for online shopping.

So the next time you’re looking for a bargain online, remember to compare prices on Temu.

That sounded a little too promotional and commercial to me. And then the clincher came.

*MOUSE PRINT:

USA Today disclaimer

One might see a disclaimer like that on “commerce content” which is a story specifically written by a different section of a publication designed to help the publisher earn money from the links contained in the story. They tend to be written in a positive manner and have the effect of promoting the product or service reviewed.

The above story is labeled “Contributor Content” but there is no explanation of what that means. There is no disclosure that USA Today or perhaps even the author make money in some manner from the story, or that this “story” really is advertising or “sponsored content.” If this really is an ad, that needs to be disclosed to the reader at a minimum and even that may not be enough according to the FTC.

For example, companies shouldn’t give the impression that a ranking or review is objective and unbiased if it is based on or affected by third-party compensation. And if an advertisement strongly resembles editorial content such as a news article, or appears formatted as native content in a publication with a strong journalistic brand, it is unlikely disclaimers will overcome the deceptive net impression. — source: FTC

Even USA Today’s own ethical principles state:

*MOUSE PRINT:

We will not blur the line between advertising and editorial content. We will provide appropriate disclosures, exercise transparency and avoid actual or implicit commercial endorsements by our journalists.

We wrote to the author asking about her piece, but she did not respond. We contacted USA Today/Gannett twice asking for an explanation of what “Contributor Content” is and suggested that some type of notification to readers might be required if this was advertising. We got no response.

Here are other stories that USA Today labels as “Contributor Content.”

In a twist, another publisher, Dow Jones, has appended a refreshing footnote to some stories in the Wall Street Journal, like this one entitled “Bleeding Money on Subscriptions? These 3 Tools Will Cancel Them Fast.”

[Note: graphical excerpt of the WSJ article has been removed.]

*MOUSE PRINT:

WSJ we are not paid

As consumers of news, we deserve published content that does not blur the line between bona fide news content and advertising.

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Here We Shrink Again – Early Fall 2023

Some big brands are continuing to downsize their products despite some easing of the inflation rate… so shrinkflation continues.

Betty Crocker Cake Mixes

Remember when Betty Crocker cake mixes always used to be 18.25 ounces years ago?

Betty Crocker 18.25 oz.

Some time ago, the mix was downsized to 15.25 oz. and recently shrunk again to just 13.25 oz. — a full five ounces less than the original. The boxes are identical in size. You still add the same ingredients. You still use the same size pans. But, you now get nine servings instead of 10.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Betty Crocker Yellow cake boxes

Thanks to Richard G. for spotting the latest change.

Arm & Hammer Plus Oxi Clean

We all know (or should know) that the number of washes you get from a bottle of liquid detergent is a load of **** because it is usually based on a small or medium-size load. And the lines inside the cap are so hard to see, it really comes down to guess work if you are trying to use the right amount of detergent.

Now we have Arm & Hammer doing something a little unusual — shrinking their product but at the same time increasing the number of theoretic loads you are supposed to get in each bottle. We don’t know if they actually concentrated the product, so you can use less, or they just tinkered with the positioning of the fill lines.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Arm & Hammer

Here you have an older bottle that was 122.5 oz., then it went down to 118.1 oz., and just recently it shrunk again to 100 oz. … but look how the number of loads increased. Thanks to Andrea for catching the latest change.

Farm Rich Mozzarella Bites

Frank C. told us about a significant reduction in the size of the package for Farm Rich Mozzarella Bites, going from close to 20 ounces to just 15. But he said the bites were now bigger but with fewer calories per serving. What’s going on here? A closer look at front panel reveals they changed the serving size from four bites to just two now.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Farm rich Mozzarella bites

Quilted Northern Toilet Tissue

In the never-ending reduction of the number of sheets of toilet paper on each roll, the Quilted Northern Ultra Plush variety has gone from 284 sheets down to 255. And their soft and strong version went from 328 to 295 sheets per roll. (Thanks to Barry K. for that tip.)

*MOUSE PRINT:

Quilted Northern plush

Quilted Northern strong

Hill’s Science Diet Dog Food

Even dog food is not immune from downsizing. Here one pet food retailer even tells customers about the “new look” and “improved recipe” of Hill’s Science Diet “Perfect Weight” dog food. They forget to mention in the graphic that the new one is two-and-a-half pounds lighter than the old one. (Bags are not to scale.)

Hills Science Diet

If you spot a product that has recently downsized, please send clear before and after pictures to Edgar (at symbol) MousePrint.org . Thanks!

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