So last week with the ” Luck ‘o the irish” my youngest child wanted to purchase some Lucky Charms! As a treat I agreed.
A day later I poured my child and I a bowl. As I was picking out the marshmallows (because lets be serious I only eat the marshmallows.) I realized how small they were! Sure it had been years since I had indulged in this sugary cereal but I don’t remember them being so micro mini. I checked out the box and sure enough they have downsized the marshmallow to get “more in each spoonfull.” Bull I say there is less period.
I’ve since then I realized I wasn’t becoming a “Canadian giant” I was just being duped into not realizing packagaing and contents are getting smaller.
For example have you ever grabbed a box of crackers that claim ” 33% less fat” then you get home and realize the package you just bought is 33% lighter then the same brand with the fat?
Or somethings on sale really cheap but 200g smaller in size then the regular priced item of the same brand. When you sit and figure it out by gram your saving 10 cents. Grrr….
YIKES!
Share your stories! What have you been duped on, or noticed its not what it seems! Anything recently where the grocery item shrunk overnight?
The change in product size or volume for the same price is called a price increase. Remember when potato chip bags were 300g?
Lucky Charms-not only are the marshmallows smaller, they are usually freeze-dried or similarly tough and roughly shaped (they used to look nicer). The rare box has softer marshmallows. The leprechaun must be taking something to find them “magically delicious.”
Ice cream! I noticed that the cartons are no longer 2L in size…but just as expensive.
I don’t really have a “suddenly smaller” story but I just wanted to thank you for posting the photo of The Friendly Giant! 🙂 It brought back some great childhood memories.
oh yes…..manufacturers think the public is stupid….not only are the size of everything smaller but the prices keep going up and to boot the product is a cheaper brand….but who are we as the public to have an opinion that matters to these people. The new fruit loops are going the same way….they took out the orange fruit loops and put some stupid cheap other star in there that has no taste or value to the original fruit loops. You would think in this time and age that the companies would stop trying to rip of the public and treat us like we are dumb, deaf and blind to their tricks. I say HOLD ME BACK!!!! haaaaaaaaaa and dont get me started! lol
and in my opinion, the manufactures that do it or for that matter any entity that does it is just looking at the bottom line for THEM and no once else. Makes me wonder are they somehow connected in the Canadian governemtn??? haaaaaaaaaaaa a penny for their thoughts on that one! haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Has anyone seen the size of a Wagon Wheel lately? They used to be oh say 4-5 inches in diameter, now they arent much bigger than a cookie. They are still chocolatey goodness of course, but you just got to eat more.
I had to say thanks for the post! I must admit that I am much more size/content savy of many purchases … and definately feel like the friendly giant trying to get value for my savings!
Pringles 30% less fat tubes have gone from 143g to 125g.
B@#$@!ds
Big Mac seems getting smaller =)
Many jars now have a big indentation in the bottom. The jars are the same size but if you check underneth it you’ll get a surprise.
Bleach is another thing, used to be 4.5l now look what they are selling for the same price 3l.
For some of these items, ie Wagon Wheels, they’re really doing us a favor! lol.
Noticed the “down” sizing of products over the years (saw something awhile back on Oprah about this)..Sure is hard to get value for the money spent when they do this! LOL but then we now have coupons to use, hahaha
Thanks for posting the Friendly Giant! Used to watch it as a kid, LOL
I was in line at Save On Foods and remarked to my husband that the Western Family brand chocolate syrup had a new label. The cashier heard me and told me that they were changing all the labeling so you didn’t notice that some of the products actually now have less in them than originally.
I can’t figure out the Tide bottles. You have two bottles with the same amount of ml but supposedly wash a different number of loads. I have three bottles of Tide — all contain 2.95L — and yet one label says it can wash 64 loads, another 52 loads, and yet another 48 loads. The measuring cup tops look the same size to me! What am I missing here?!
my boyfriend always comments on the size of the dilly bars from dairy queen…he says he remembers them being huge, and now they’re half the size of his hand…he always wonders were they always that big, and he got bigger….
great thread!!!
I remember when the rolls of toilet paper used to fill right across. Now the rolls just slides from side to side and when you used to buy a double roll, you could not even roll the thing at first. Even noticed last month the bacon packages are getting narrower too!.. The worst thing I would say are electronics, they are made so cheap they don’t last anymore…remember when you could have a TV for 20 years (well some of us)? Thanks for putting this up Sally, the manufacturers wonder why the economy is so bad. Maybe if they stopped messing around with the consumer and gave us quality and good value they wouldn’t be in the mess thy are in now.
I remember when the rolls of toilet paper used to fill right across. Now the roll just slides from side to side and when you used to buy a double roll, you could not even roll the thing at first. Even noticed last month the bacon packages are getting narrower too!.. The worst thing I would say are electronics, they are made so cheap they don’t last anymore…remember when you could have a TV for 20 years (well some of us)? Thanks for putting this up Sally, the manufacturers wonder why the economy is so bad. Maybe if they stopped messing around with the consumer and gave us quality and good value they wouldn’t be in the mess they are in now.
I’ve noticed downsizing in packaging for quite a while.
Maxwell House coffee is now 925 grams instead of 1 kg
Cereal is packaged smaller for the same price
Chocolate bars have shrunk
Icecream is a huge culprit…1.36 – 1.65 L instead of 2 L UNLESS you buy Kool Kow or Chapmans!!
Too bad in all this downsizing that my body doens’t follow!
This is known as the grocery shrink ray. When a manufacturer shrinks the package size but maintains the same price(or even more evil, they shrink the package and increase the price). Lots of examples of this. Most recently the 15th anniversary sale at walmart currently ongoing. They are advertising the large box of diapers for $27. The large box usually sells for $37…but the sale box has less diapers in it than the usual large box. It is still a good deal as I calculated the smaller box would cost about $33 with an equal number of diapers as the big box, but not as good as the $10 discount that they want you to think you are getting.
Noticed it a long time ago with ice cream and juice but I wouldn’t be surprised other things are being affected. Same price for less so basically an increase of price without being too obvious about it. And of course it never seems to make sense that the healthier version of anything weighs less.
McCains Frozen Premiere Pizzas. My wife and I thought it seemed smaller recently, so I measured it – Deli Lovers (as well as Pepperoni) pizzas are a little over 9″ in diameter, as opposed to the 12″ they used to be. The Deluxe box was bigger at the store, but I don’t get the deluxe pizzas. Also, chocolate bars have appeared to have shrunk immensely.
Dawn Dishwashing Liquid. The prize is more or less the same, but volume has decreased.
the worst downsizing has got to be Black Diamond cheese blocks.
Went from one kg, to 650g, now down to 500g.
clever packaging makes it look the same width and length, but thickness has been cut dramatically.
all of this cutting in under two years.
HA HA – I always thought wagon wheels were shrinking too.
Blocks of cheese is a good example – they’re what – 550 grams now? I’m pretty sure they used to be 700. Oh, and when they first downsized, there seemed to be a half inch of extra packaging……GOTCHA BLACK DIAMOND!!
As for the whole “concentrated” soap, this is the biggest crock EVER. So what, all this time you’ve been watering down your detergent – now all of a sudden you come up with some new technology to save on packaging. Nice try. Buyers get duped again.
But face it – what can we do about it.
Cheapy
Yep things def aren’t made like they use to be! I’m on my second dishwasher in 4 years, yet I go to other peoples houses and they still have ones ticking from the ’70’s.
I hate how a lot of stuff is getting smaller.
Yet pops at fast food joints seem to be getting bigger and bigger. Pretty soon my husband will need 2 hands to hold onto his ridiculously sized beverage.
According to a tv show special I watched awhile back, a lot of this has to do with the Canada food and health people. They want less fat in packages and per serving size so the manufacturers make smaller packaging and serving sizes to avoid actually shrinking the amount of fat.
I noticed this with a few things recently like no name coffee going from 1k-900 grams.. or the little no name dinners for 1$ used to be 255 grams which was a decent portion and I used to split a box for my 2 tots they love them as side dishes. now they are 210 so it’s so tiny to split I rarely buy them now just making more things from scratch and stocking up when it goes on sale.
Have you noticed the ridges inside a mayo Jar? It keeps the product on the side, so you have to buy the product faster, same thing with ketchup, the fancy neck finished with a huge ridge that you cant get the stuff out of!
All kinds of sneaky trick like that to make you waste and buy more…
Presidents Choice Hot Chocolate! Look next time you are at RCSS. The regular and the Light version are the same price, same size package but the “Light” version has less in it!! Rip off!
Pop comes in cases of 18 rather than 24 yet same price.Boxes of 12 have gone up in price along with 2L bottles.
I am reassured to know that I am not the only one who notcied about the Wagon Wheels…I though it was one of those, “I’m just getting old” things, because I remember them being HUGE when I was a kid!
Yeah, me too with the Wagon Wheels… or are we certain that they didn’t seem bigger because our hands were so small as children?? 🙂
Bags of potatoes.. 7lb bags instead of 10lbs for the same price. Bags of chips are getting smaller… 180g? I could almost eat the entire bag in one sitting now!!
“Presidents Choice Hot Chocolate! Look next time you are at RCSS. The regular and the Light version are the same price, same size package but the “Light” version has less in it!! Rip off!”
sarahdarling: It’s because the light version will have significantly more artificial sweetener in it which weighs much less than sugar
Yes, Wagon Wheels were a few inches wide in the late 1970s-early 1980s. Then they deflated.
I have noticed the toilet paper rolls getting “less wide”. we have an old toilet roll holder that just has two pins sticking out each side and it no longer holds the rolls.
Also, yogurt – all brands and I specifically remember when Danone offered 25% less fat and it meant that, yes, the yogurt cup was 25% smaller!
I used to buy M&Ms alot when I was a teenager, then they changed the packaging to a smaller size and I stopped bothering to buy it. I felt so ripped off. I think I would have preferred paying more for the previous size because it was the perfect amount.
This has been slowly happening over the years. The one that gets me the most is the can of apple juice. It used to be 1.36 L and now it is 1.2 L. I drink this everyday and know that this slight difference adds up over time. Also, boxes of the standard size Kleenex (Life brand anyways)….used to have 100 sheets and now there are 96!!
I haveto to agree on the subtle product size decreases, for example as stated above, they now package 18 pops versus 24 and switch them up regularly. It is as if they are really try to insult our intelligence, the same with Maxwell House coffee and switiching up the can size.
We are blessed to to be able to fight back by stocking up huge when there are great sales, like buying 12 cases of 24 for $4.99 and 12 Large Maxwell House cans (925g) and we are set for a year!
Wonder if the new carboard cans reduce the coffee freshness so you have to buy more frenquently…I’ll let you know?!)
We all must try to beat them at their own game! When and if you are able, stock up on really good sales…
I have noticed this with Kraft Miracle Whip. Smaller jar for same price. I e-mailed them about my disappointment but have yet to hear back.
Cereals are the same price but they less weight per box. Example: Life cereal was 730g now 650g(I have both boxes). Less food, more air in package.
Easter…. Cadbury Cream Egg is TOTALLY shrinking!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FiA57ir5QM
Anything made by Mcains frozen veggies from 1 kg to 750g and their pizza was 660g now 540g over night. they are taking lessons from big oil the last time we were paying 90 cents a litre for gas oil was over 85 dollars a barrel.they don’t even try to lie to us anymore and then to top it all off they release their quarterly earnings and guess what once again record profits. they just keep rubbing our noses in it!!! WHAT CAN WE DO???
The worst of the worst downsizing if you ask me, is Tampax Tampons! Sorry guys, but this is a huge issue and I no longer have an iota of trust in their product. After a few decades of using them exclusively, I am looking for a new brand. These tampax pearls suck! They have so much wrong with them, I thought i was having you know, problems down there, because I was having to change them every hour. Turns out i am not the only one! These things are made smaller and far less absorbent on purpose, and I am going through 2X-3X the amount I used to before they redesigned them. Just awful for a product that requires trust.