No, You’re Not Crazy. These Products Are Smaller Than They Were A Year Ago
If you've eaten chips in the last few months, you might've noticed they didn't last as long as they have, and maybe you've noticed the same with toilet paper. It's part of a phenomenon Redditors are calling "Shrinkflation."
First off, let's look at Doritos. About a month ago, a spokesperson from Frito-Lay released a statement, saying there were going to be less Doritos in a bag. Five less, to be exact.
'Inflation is hitting everyone,' Daily Mail reported of the company's decision. They trimmed the weight of the bag by five chips, lowering the weight per bag from 9.75 ounces to 9.25 ounces.
However, the price of the bags doesn't go down by five chips worth, it actually stayed the exact same price of around $4.29, depending where you buy your chips from.
'We took just a little bit out of the bag so we can give you the same price and you can keep enjoying your chips,' the rep explained.
This isn't the only case that internet super-sleuths have noticed. In fact, there's an entire subreddit dedicated to this "Shrinkflation."
Shrinkflation is when a product's price stays the same, or even increases, while the company shrinks the packaging or many times the product itself.
First, let's look at Oreo cookies. Remember these awesome Oreos with extra fillings? What were they called again? ____ Stuf.
You're thinking Double Stuf, like they've been known for decades. Well, they're definitely not DOUBLE stuffed anymore, so they can't be called that.
I imagine in the board meeting where they were trying to solve this problem, someone asked "How are we going to name this? It's an Oreo with the most stuffing," and someone else said "THAT'S IT!"
That's right, kiddos. The Most Stuf.
It goes deeper than this. Check out some of these other submissions on Reddit.
These paper towels:
This laundry detergent that shrunk by 17 ounces, but still does the same amount of laundry:
Regular Oreos, which don't appear to be "as advertised":
K-Cups for Dunkin Donuts, which kept the same box but dropped two cups:
Toilet paper being a half-an-inch shorter:
These chicken dippers:
How about Easter candy?
Feel like putting down a whole frozen pizza by yourself is getting easier?
Or this brand of cleaning wipes that cut out 8 wipes, and aparently shrunk the size of the 72 they left inside the pack.
Or how about this? A missing piece of gum?
"It's like a handle!" - Megan
How do we bounce back from this? I don't know, but if you know some kind of economist, ask them. I want my true $4 worth of chips, not this partially filled bag.