By Ian Gargan
Americans continue to have their wallets accosted by runaway inflation rates, courtesy of the Biden Administration and their apparent hatred for the American people! Marketing companies working with major manufacturers have implemented a legally deceptive way to remain equally or become even more profitable, without consumers becoming aware or frustrated. Consumers don’t realize they are being taken advantage of because instead of raising the price on that jar of mayonnaise they “Redesign the package” and remove a few ounces from the package size. The term is coined Shrinkflation, they find this practice leads to less consumer complaints versus an increased price. Skim a few ounces off the top and nobody is the wiser…
But Americans are the wiser. They don’t think we’ll realize we’re getting less Frosted Flakes out of the box or wipes from a toilet paper roll. What usually lasts a week is now only lasting four days. Shrinking the size of a package or filling it less is not illegal, in fact this has been common practice for ages. Products are clearly labeled which protects manufacturers from being accused of deceptive practices. But who examines exactly how many ounces of Fruity Pebbles are in a box? And even if you did, should we make a journal to keep track? I’ve learned the key is to check the per unit pricing. This will show how much you’re paying for each unit of that product and compare with its competitors.
One website, Mouseprint.org is gathering information and pointing out to Americans that companies like Quaker who makes Life cereal have increased the height of the box, rebranded the Giant Size to Family Size but removed 2.5oz of product. And it’s not just for humans, dogs are going to feel it when that 50lb bag of food is downsized to a 44lb bag. Even Miracle-Gro has cut ¾ of a pound from their plant food.
Personally, I only noticed when my usually 12oz box of Crispix only made me 3 bowls of cereal. After accusing my family of eating it, I realized I was duped by Kellogg’s. I inspected the net weight and it said 9.6OZ! I was already paying $4.99 but now I’m paying .10 cents more an ounce. I know that sounds like a minute thing to complain about with more drastic issues like the price at the pumps but spread that across your entire shopping trip. You’re either going to spend more to compensate for the loss or shop more frequently.
Huggies have removed 12 diapers from each case to keep the price level. That’s 3-4 days for some parents, over time, you are paying for a whole extra case for every 7 you purchase. It resembles a reverse rewards card, buy 7 but pay for 8! Charmin has shrunk the Mega Pack from 396 sheets per roll to 366. A party sized bags of chips have been reduces from 18oz to 16oz.
Messing with portions of food is one thing but to mess with a person’s coffee is a whole different story. Folgers took 8oz of grounds out of the container but still claims it makes the same 380 cups it used to. Now I never got 380 cups out of it in the first place, I like my coffee with a little kick! Now to afford that extra boost in the morning I’ll need to park my car halfway to work and run the rest of the way.
Men, women, children, dogs, and plants are all being affected by a decrease in unit size, and they are pretending like Americans won’t notice. Large corporations feel the everyday consumer spending their hard-earned money on products will remain blind to their actions. We’re not going to be curious why we are going shopping more often. We won’t notice our coffee is a little weaker much like the higher ethanol gas flooding the market right now. Sure, it might look and smell like gas, but it isn’t getting the same results and we see it. All the corporations want is to appease their stockholders, so the moral of the story is to buy from companies that care about you. Not the Mega-Woke conglomerates, not the liberal virtue signaling companies that change their logo to a rainbow every June 1st but only within the USA. We need to spend our money with companies that deserve it. Buy American when you can and make the value of your dollars count. When it comes to the dollar, the consumer holds the power.