Do you like paying for air? (food packages)
OhioGuy
and less product, in their store brand potato chip bags. 2 months ago, the
bags had 12 ounces of potato chips - now they have 8. A couple of years
ago, they had 14 ounces. I remember that about 6 or 7 years ago, it was a
full 16 ounces - a pound.
Now they are putting half the product in the bags, but they have left the
price the same - a dollar. I would much rather that they leave the size of
the product the same, and I find it insulting that they make the bags look
the same size, and they are the same price, but you only get half what you
did a few years ago.
The same has happened to a lesser extent with several other items - graham
crackers, for instance. The boxes used to have a full pound. Now it is 14
ounces, and there is empty space in the box.
Why do they do this? It infuriates me, and makes me feel like my
intelligence is being insulted.
Al Bundy
The same one pound box of graham crackers is available for $1 at the
dollar store, Sav-A-Lot, and Wal-Mart. You can still select a 1# bag
of potato chips. Just look for the proper sized bag and buy that
instead of a lesser weight bag. This is not brain surgery.
Better yet, why not buy 15# of potatoes for $2.99 and make your own
healthy chips?
Surely, nobody would try to insult your intelligence.
Anthony Matonak
> Recently, I noticed that a local grocery store started putting more air,
> and less product, in their store brand potato chip bags. 2 months ago, the
> bags had 12 ounces of potato chips - now they have 8. A couple of years
> ago, they had 14 ounces. I remember that about 6 or 7 years ago, it was a
> full 16 ounces - a pound.
> Why do they do this? It infuriates me, and makes me feel like my
> intelligence is being insulted.
Whenever the question is "Why do they do this?" the answers are usually
money or sex. Sex doesn't apply to corporations so you're left with only
money.
They do it because it makes them money.
Shrinking product sizes have been around ever since they started to
package foods. Don't worry too much about it though. In a little bit
they'll announce a new 'Jumbo' sized package with the original 16 oz.
I'm not even going to touch the intelligence insulting. If you even
glance at most adverts you'll quickly realize that they believe the
consumer as the IQ and long term memory of a goldfish. What passes
for most comedy these days is even more insulting to your IQ.
Anthony
Marsha
You can be sure that anything marked New and Improved
will be less of a value to the consumer. Bleach is one
example that comes to mind. The non-splash bottle has
about 4-6 oz. less than the regular bleach bottle, yet
charges the same price. Go figure....
Marsha/Ohio
Michael Black
> Now they are putting half the product in the bags, but they have left the
> price the same - a dollar. I would much rather that they leave the size of
> the product the same, and I find it insulting that they make the bags look
> the same size, and they are the same price, but you only get half what you
> did a few years ago.
>
cutting the size is a way of keeping the price the same when costs go up.
Take note that potato chips are a lousy example to use for your rant.
Because by nature they are packed with air, since the air protects the
product. You can put quite a bit of weight on a bag of potato chips before
it will break, but note that it doesn't take much to crush an open bag
of chips, and the last thing you want is a bag of potato chip crumbs.
You aren't likely to notice the shrinking chocolate bars, either, since
they shave off a gram or so at a time, and you never notice until
one day when you think "gee, this used to be bigger".
Packaging may also be an issue because it has to integrate into an
existing supply line. At the very least, stores aren't likely to want
to deal with a whole string of can or box sizes, simply because the
various companies have to raise their prices. SO they want the crackers
to keep a constant size box, at least for a reasonable period of time,
and they want cans that generally are the same size.
Wooly
>
> The same has happened to a lesser extent with several other items - graham
> crackers, for instance. The boxes used to have a full pound. Now it is 14
> ounces, and there is empty space in the box.
>
> Why do they do this? It infuriates me, and makes me feel like my
> intelligence is being insulted.
>
>
The answer, of course, is MONEY. You're willing to pay twice as much as
you used to on a per-unit basis for those same chips so of COURSE the
manufacturer is going to take advantage of that fact.
Quit eating chips - your arteries will thank you for it.
Goomba38
> Why do they do this? It infuriates me, and makes me feel like my
> intelligence is being insulted.
>
If you have to ask "why" they are doing it..well.. your intelligence
already does come under question.
OhioGuy
> of potato chips. Just look for the proper sized bag and buy that
Save-A-Lot is actually the store I was referring to.
Yes, they do have a 16 ounce bag of potato chips, but not the cheap store
brand - only in the much more expensive "Lay's" brand. It almost seems as
though they are going out of their way to drive people over to the more
expensive items.
In fact, while they used to advertise how much saving you could do
shopping there, now it seems like they are carrying brand name items that
cost a lot more.
OhioGuy
>those same chips
But I'm not - I haven't bought any of their potato chips since back when I
noticed the bags dropped from 14 ounces.
TwoAllBeefPatties
<anthony...@nothing.like.socal.rr.com> wrote:
> OhioGuy wrote:
".........the answers are usually money or sex......"
Or religion.
George
> OhioGuy wrote:
>
>
> You can be sure that anything marked New and Improved will be less of a
> value to the consumer. Bleach is one example that comes to mind. The
> non-splash bottle has about 4-6 oz. less than the regular bleach bottle,
> yet charges the same price. Go figure....
> Marsha/Ohio
>
Then there is the pre-mixed (diluted 50% with water) automotive
anti-freeze that now sells for the same price as the non-diluted version.
clams casino
I noticed that this weekend at Walmart for Prestone window wash.
Rick
Why? They just likes to screw with your head...
This happens all the time. You get less for more $$$ as any given
company tries to increase profits. We do live in a capitalist society.
The back inside page of Consumer Reports dedicates an entire section of
"Selling It" to examples of the worst food product packaging devoted to
convincing you that there is more in the package than you think. The
examples are funny - yet pathetic - at the same time.
Just one more reason why you have to be a very savvy shopper and really
look at what you are buying.
Rick
Rick
From the same "How Dumb Do You Think a Consumer Really Is?" marketing
department: My favorite is "lite" juices that are just regular juices
mixed with added water. Profound revelation: If you want a "lite" juice,
do it yourself.
But these juices are still on the store shelves so I guess P. T. Barnum
is still right...
Rick
clams casino
> My favorite is "lite" juices that are just regular juices
>mixed with added water. Profound revelation: If you want a "lite" juice,
>do it yourself.
>
>
>
Of course, they simply stole that directly from the beer companies.
Bill
is quite an art...
With chips, it is desirable that they have bends and ripples. This is so
they will stack in the package with more air between each chip.
With frozen foods, they use a big retectangular box, then place an oval
container inside this, then this container has several individual
compartments with the sides of each compartment sloping in. Then they only
fill each compartment enough to cover the bottom. The amount of food in one
of these boxes can be measured in tablespoons! (Although looking at it from
the top down, it looks like a "plate full".)
With dry foods in a box, they can make the pieces odd shaped and crinkled so
they don't lay flat against each other - adding more air.
Or adding "crisped (puffed) rice" to chocolate bars, you get a lot of air.
With paper products like paper towels or toilet paper, they can add little
indentations or dimples on the surface of the paper so it does not roll as
tightly - has more air and less paper in the roll, but roll looks just as
big around.
Then they can inject air into bars of soap. (I buy the heaviest bar - lasts
longer.)
With cheap stereo systems, it will be a big box with lots of air inside. Or
a big speaker cabinet, yet small speakers. (I buy by what it sounds like,
not what it looks like.)
"OhioGuy" wrote in message
Anthony Matonak
...
> In fact, while they used to advertise how much saving you could do
> shopping there, now it seems like they are carrying brand name items that
> cost a lot more.
There is more profit in high priced items. Lots of stores simply
don't carry cheap stuff. It's not worth it to them.
Anthony
Too_Many_Tools
Or for Republicans it involves all three...at the same time...in a
bathroom stall at the airport.
TMT
timeOday
And both are on store shelves right next to the bottled water - talk
about dilution.
timeOday
> Why? They just likes to screw with your head...
>
> This happens all the time. You get less for more $$$ as any given
> company tries to increase profits. We do live in a capitalist society.
> The back inside page of Consumer Reports dedicates an entire section of
> "Selling It" to examples of the worst food product packaging devoted to
> convincing you that there is more in the package than you think. The
> examples are funny - yet pathetic - at the same time.
>
> Just one more reason why you have to be a very savvy shopper and really
> look at what you are buying.
>
> Rick
Beef jerky. They have a big bag with a transparent window near the
bottom. Guess what? They only fill to the top of the transparent window.
Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
>
> And both are on store shelves right next to the bottled water - talk
> about dilution.
Yeah, the next thing you know, they will be selling dehydrated water in
the supermarkets at premium prices.
--
Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your
work with excellence.
Anthony Matonak
...
> Yeah, the next thing you know, they will be selling dehydrated water in
> the supermarkets at premium prices.
They do almost exactly this in the form of kool-aid.
Just add water and sugar. * :)
Anthony
--
* Cyanide optional.
George Grapman
On a related note I have seen "lite" versions of orange juice and
grape juice. In both cases the "Lite" is the result of water being added
but the prices are the same as the real product.
Gatorade had (might still have bit have not seen in lately) something
called Gatorade A.M. which was hyped as a morning energy drink.
According the the label and nutrition information it was the same as the
regular product but the price was higher.
turtlelover
I've looked at some of those juices, and almost tried them.... until I saw that (in the case of Ocean Spray, anyway) they were "lightened"/"litened" with _Splenda._ When I see that name on a label, I steer clear, since Splenda has a putrid aftertaste -- IMHO.
Cheers,
T
jbtra...@lycos.com
I'm actually eating a box of goldfish right now, I noticed how skimpy
the contents were (the box was barely 60% full when I opened it!),
then typed in "air", "bag of chips" into google, and what do you
know...other people feel the same way.
A bag of chips has turned into a joke. Especially the clear bags. You
can see right through them and see they're only 40-50% full (and even
then, they're round, crinkled..still more air).
This Goldfish box is absolutely ridiculous. The silver bag inside
comes up to 80% of the top of the box. Then the goldfish were about
60% to the top of the silver bag. Now, a half hour later, I'm looking
at a box that's 40% full!
Looking at the packaging, they also hid it well by making the silver
bag inside fold inward (I dont think thats accidental). Makes the
whole thing look really narrow.
If you guys want to sell something, just put it in a tall narrow box.
Makes it look much bigger than if the crackers came in a short little
dish.
Always follow the money. If they can sell the same size box, and put
only 75% of the content in as before, isn't that like increasing the
price by 33%?
clams casino
>How funny.
>
>
>
>A bag of chips has turned into a joke. Especially the clear bags. You
>can see right through them and see they're only 40-50% full (and even
>then, they're round, crinkled..still more air).
>
>
>
Duh - do you prefer crumbs or chips?
Hint - the air protects the shape.
scrapq...@gmail.com
> This Goldfish box is absolutely ridiculous. The silver bag inside
> comes up to 80% of the top of the box. Then the goldfish were about
> 60% to the top of the silver bag. Now, a half hour later, I'm looking
> at a box that's 40% full!
Did you ever notice that most of these sorts of products have a notice
on the package that says "THIS PRODUCT IS SOLD BY WEIGHT, NOT BY
VOLUME".
Sure, that bag of Goldfish might not look full, but there are whatever
amount of Goldfish that weigh the amount stated on the package. In
the case of a box of cereal, GOldfish or whatever, the box might be
full when they fill it, but it settles while it sits on the shelf.
Having said that, it IS true that in some cases the manufacturers
reduce the amount of the product in an attempt to boost
profits....take for example the 13 oz. 'pound' of coffee, the one and
half quart 'half gallon' of ice cream. That is true.
In the case of the chips, crackers and cookies, there does need to be
some amount of air cushioning in the package or the product would
break. I don't want to buy potato chip crumbs.
George Grapman
Two more hints:
The weight is listed on the package which is all that matters.
If they were trying to fool you they would not have a clear bag.
Michael Black
But the original post, and many that follow, seem to suggest they
are "secretly" giving you less for your money.
A different way of viewing it, as I mentioned earlier, is that it's a price
increase.
People would grumble if the price went up. People grumble when the price
goes up, but it's done via reducing the contents (and as has been pointed
out, they do change the markings on the box to indicate the reduced contents).
I suspect the manufacturers have done studies, or learned from experience,
that price increases are often a bad move, so the only way to keep up
with costs is to reduce the contents.
Michael
jbtra...@lycos.com
I'm sure they've done a ton of studies, focus groups, etc showing that
people don't protest/react as much if they reduce the conent of the
box vs increasing the box.
Although its a funny way to sell something IMO.
If you go to a restaurant, they fill the coke all the way to the top
of the glass. Or the french fries at mcdonalds, they stuff them to the
top of the cardboard carton they come in. If you went to sizzler and
they started to fill your coke up to 60% of the top of the glass, I'm
sure people would really complain. You do buy it by weight, but
"hiding it" or concealing what you're getting is what gets people
annoyed and upset.
It sort of reminds me of the music industry and the old "buy a CD with
14 songs but you only want one or two good ones." There's sort of a
"pain" there or annoyance. Then a better solution comes along with the
itunes store, 99 cent songs and the old model dies.
I think a similar thing could happen here.
I think Ellen Degeneres did a comedy special (on hbo?) about how they
package chips, and she wished they packed chips, the way they pack
pickles, lol.
John
On Sep 14, 9:06 am, et...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Michael Black) wrote:
> George Grapman (sfgeo...@paccbell.net) writes:
> > clams casino wrote:
> Michael- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
clams casino
>
>If you go to a restaurant, they fill the coke all the way to the top
>of the glass.
>
Stopped at a restaurant one time where I ordered a "large" drink & my
wife ordered a "small". Hers came in a small glass, mine in a larger
glass with a very thick wall. Out of curiosity, I requested a glass of
water to compare the volume.. The "small" actually held marginally more
volume than the "large".
Of course the trick to ordering drinks at fast food places is to ask
without ice. The drink components are already cooled, rarely needing
ice, unless you just want a diluted drink.
William Souden
I went to restaurant trade show once. One company was selling 10
oz.glasses that the said looked like 14 oz.
The Florida orange juice people were hyping "orange juice on ice" as
a way to increase restaurant profits (of course it cut into their sales)
and a firm was hyping imitation crab that could be mixed with real crab.
George
> jbtra...@lycos.com wrote:
>
>>
>> If you go to a restaurant, they fill the coke all the way to the top
>> of the glass.
>
>
> Stopped at a restaurant one time where I ordered a "large" drink & my
> wife ordered a "small". Hers came in a small glass, mine in a larger
> glass with a very thick wall. Out of curiosity, I requested a glass of
> water to compare the volume.. The "small" actually held marginally more
> volume than the "large".
Thats also a common big box industrial restaurant thing with soup bowls.
There is typically minimal difference between the small and large.
jbtra...@lycos.com
There's certainly alot of tricks out there.
Fast food place drinks, I dont think they can trick you as much. They
all come in paper cups, and they do give you alot of ice, but most
places give you free refills.
john
On Sep 15, 8:01 am, George <geo...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
> clams casino wrote:
> > ice, unless you just want a diluted drink.- Hide quoted text -
Don
> Of course the trick to ordering drinks at fast food places is to ask
> without ice. The drink components are already cooled, rarely needing
> ice, unless you just want a diluted drink.
The REAL trick is to buy a small drink, then do the free refill as
neccessary.
Why pay more for the larger cup?
George Grapman
two people out to breakfast. Two of us ordered a small coffee and the
other a large. Two of us had already had several cup prior to arriving
but the third person requested a refill. I was surprised when the server
asked if they wanted small or large but quickly forgot about it. When
the bill came we had been charged for a second large coffee. The server
said it was "policy" to charge for refills even with full meals and
since my return was unlikely, the owner or manager were not around and
it was a whole $1,50 I did no press the issue.
Meghan Noecker
> Recently, I noticed that a local grocery store started putting more air,
>and less product, in their store brand potato chip bags. 2 months ago, the
>bags had 12 ounces of potato chips - now they have 8. A couple of years
>ago, they had 14 ounces. I remember that about 6 or 7 years ago, it was a
>full 16 ounces - a pound.
>
> Now they are putting half the product in the bags, but they have left the
>price the same - a dollar. I would much rather that they leave the size of
>the product the same, and I find it insulting that they make the bags look
>the same size, and they are the same price, but you only get half what you
>did a few years ago.
>
> The same has happened to a lesser extent with several other items - graham
>crackers, for instance. The boxes used to have a full pound. Now it is 14
>ounces, and there is empty space in the box.
>
> Why do they do this? It infuriates me, and makes me feel like my
>intelligence is being insulted.
>
It's all about money. They know people object to prices going up, so
they keep the price the same, but lower the amount of product. Some
people will notice and object, but many won't. And most of us will
continue to buy it if we want it enough.
I work in a grocery store, and early this year, we discontinued our
sandwich buy 7, get the 8th free program. People were unhappy, but the
costs have gone up a lot in the years since we started that program.
The options were 1. stop giving away free sandwiches, or 2. raise the
price of the sandwiches. The company figured people would complain
less if they discontinued the free sandwiches since the typical
customer was taking a couple months to earn a free sandwich, but
people would be discouraged by an increase in every sandwich.
So, the price is still the same.