Terry versus CEOs

[230RN]

I found this during the eternal process of organizing some back drives.  Not dated, but creation date of Aug 2007..  Don't know any other way to cure this kind of crap.  A couple of years ago I noticed that facial tissues were smaller so I wrote to them and said I noticed they were smaller.  They wrote back and said they weren't smaller.  Sure enough, I found an older box and dammit, they were smaller.

Same thing, recently, with toilet paper and a whole host of other downsized things. It seems like if something is 5 inches or five oz, they'll figure out a way to "round it down."  If it's metric, they'll find a way to get to the next lower round number in english units.  Same the other way around.  If it's english units, they'll figure a way to round that down to a "nice," even metric number.

Only the names and addresses were changed.  To prevent l'il ole me from getting sued.  I enclosed the can label --it was a 4 oz can of diced turkey which I like to make one-off turkey salad sandwiches with.

Rat Bastard Foods                  
Rat Bastard Foods Sales LLC
12xx Nutrition Place
Pocahontas MN 55912

Ref Your Chunk Turkey
Bar Code 0 00000 00000 0

Dear Sirs,

This net weight 4-oz can contained 2 fluid oz of liquid.

You s'pose you could fit more water in the can?

Only two more ounces of liquid and you could call it 97.33 % fat-free.

Don't send me any coupons.  Just a note that says you fired your money-grubbing bottom-line CEO.

Yours sincerely,

Terry Whoziwhatsis
(Addresss)

Does anyone remember when there were 10 hot dogs in a package?  Twelve?

Terry, 230RN

[RevDisk]

MBA's took over.  Instead of making better products and innovations, it's a race to the bottom.

[Nick1911]

The incredible shrinking product!

I'm 26, and I'm noted it many places.  I suppose it's only going to get worse.

[roo_ster]

The market won;t be mocked.  All this money-pumping has caused lots of commodities cost to rise and commodity sellers to package smaller portions to keep perceived prices the same.

My shock came when shopping at a regular grocery store, rather than Sam's/Costco.  I picked up a jar of pasta sauce and saw it contained 1/2 or 1/3 the sauce it used to.

[Tuco]

Tuna in a tin.

Was 6oz,
now 5 oz.

Rather than raise the price to reflect actual changes in the product's availability and cost, adjust your recipes.

[Perd Hapley]

But the soft drink cups are getting larger.

And weren't we just discussing how a size 8 is now a size 10, or something like that?

See, it's not all bad. 

[Jamisjockey]

Blue bell ice cream is still a true half gallon.  Won't consider buying anything else now.

[230RN]

Sure ticks me off, that "race to the bottom line," as RevDisc put it.  I wonder when Canada is going to go to US. gallons on their gasoline instead of Imperial gallons.  Or maybe four liters.

[seeker_two]

MBA's took over.  Instead of making better products and innovations, it's a race to the bottom.

This....why be honest with consumers when fooling them is so easy?....

[Hawkmoon]

Tuna in a tin.

Was 6oz,
now 5 oz.

Rather than raise the price to reflect actual changes in the product's availability and cost, adjust your recipes.

And there was a day when a tin of solid, white albacore tuna actually contained solid, white albacore tuna. These days the pap being sold as "solid, white albacore tuna" is neither solid nor white. I wrote a Terry-like letter to the packagers of one brand, and they wrote back that the quality of their brand was unchanged. Which, of course, is a lie. I grew up on that brand and I've been using it for fifty-plus years. The change took place within the last year.

Likewise B&M brand baked beans. My grandparents were in Maine -- it was the only brand we knew. They always had real chunks of salt pork in each can. Recently I noticed no salt pork, so I wrote to complain. Got an e-mail back informing me that they changed the recipe so there's no more solid salt pork in it. I wasn't sure if they're claiming the salt pork is now ground up, or if it's just "salt pork flavor."

However, the cans all say "Original Recipe." How can it be the original recipe when you just wrote to me and told me you changed the recipe?

MBAs will be the death of this nation.

[slugcatcher]

Blue bell ice cream is still a true half gallon.  Won't consider buying anything else now.

The volume of the container is a half gallon but I doubt the weight is still what they claim.  The last half dozen containers I bought had a fist sized air pocket in the center.

[Ned Hamford]

Cadberry Easter Eggs.   

[HankB]

It's been a LONG time since a 2-lb or 3-lb can of coffee actually was 2 or 3 lbs.

Paper towels - rolls are smaller. When Consumer Reports noted the shrinking roll years ago, the manufacturer said it was to "avoid a price increase." CR noted it was more to conceal a price increase.

Commercial centerfire pistol ammo was always packed in boxes of 50 when I was a kid; now that's not always the case.

Cars are smaller and more expensive.

On the other hand, our government is bigger. Lots bigger.

[Tallpine]

Sure ticks me off, that "race to the bottom line," as RevDisc put it.  I wonder when Canada is going to go to US. gallons on their gasoline instead of Imperial gallons.  Or maybe four liters.

They were starting to sell gasoline by the liter int Canada back in 1979.  I'm sure that it's all metric by now.

The first time I saw 29.9 price I was    - until I was that was for a little more than a quart. 

[Scout26]

It's actually more this:

The market won;t be mocked.  All this money-pumping has caused lots of commodities cost to rise and commodity sellers to package smaller portions to keep perceived prices the same.

Then this:

MBA's took over.  Instead of making better products and innovations, it's a race to the bottom.

While there's "No Inflation" what's actually happening is that manufacturer's are trying to hit price points.  The cost of everything (especially transportation) has gone up.  Now, you can raise the prices of the 12 pack of Hot Dogs from $.99 to $1.19 and lose 30-40% of sales*.  Or just make it a 10 pack and not lose any sales.   And for most companies, in today's market, a loss of sales could very well be the death knell of the company.

*I've seen marketing studies and customer focus group results.   Americans shop mostly by price point/perceived value, rather than by cost per unit of measure.   I saw this the other day with my son.  He wanted something that was $2.69, but was in a cardboard can with a net weight of 4.5 oz.  I pointed out that a similar product in a sealed plastic bag was $2.99 for 8 oz. net weight and we should get that one instead. (Two guys aren't going to let Slim-Jims go to waste, so that's a moot point.)  He just kept insisting that it was cheaper.  I pointed out that it wasn't and as I went through the math with him, the light bulb clicked on. 

[RocketMan]

On the other hand, our government is bigger. Lots bigger.

I don't think we're getting much of a bargain.

[RevDisk]

This....why be honest with consumers when fooling them is so easy?....

Consumers know it, but when everyone is doing so with no possible recourse...  Eh. Not much that can be done about it, aside from regulation that requires accurate labeling. 

[HankB]

*I've seen marketing studies and customer focus group results.   Americans shop mostly by price point/perceived value, rather than by cost per unit of measure.   I saw this the other day with my son.  He wanted something that was $2.69, but was in a cardboard can with a net weight of 4.5 oz.  I pointed out that a similar product in a sealed plastic bag was $2.99 for 8 oz. net weight and we should get that one instead. (Two guys aren't going to let Slim-Jims go to waste, so that's a moot point.)  He just kept insisting that it was cheaper.  I pointed out that it wasn't and as I went through the math with him, the light bulb clicked on.   

I was a very young child - early elementary school - when my mother pointed out to me that the "large economy size" wasn't always the cheapest choice - you have to figure out price per unit weight or volume if you're looking for the best deal.

In India, "price point" is almost institutional. I was talking to some of our sales staff and they were lamenting the difficulty in selling new splices (electrical or fiber optics, I don't remember) in India. Say they were buying splices for US$1 each, and each splice would take care of one cable pair. We introduced a system where one splice assembly would do ten cable pairs, and the price was US$5 - so the price per splice was half of what they were using.

The Indians couldn't get past the fact that the new one cost US$5 vs. US$1 for the old one. The capability was irrelevant - price and only price was what mattered.  

[Scout26]

Consumers know it, but when everyone is doing so with no possible recourse...  Eh. Not much that can be done about it, aside from regulation that requires accurate labeling. 

Not true.  I would guess that 75-80% (at least) don't know it. 

Remember that 50% of the folks are below average....and average ain't all that smart...

[Jamisjockey]

Not true.  I would guess that 75-80% (at least) don't know it. 

Remember that 50% of the folks are below average....and average ain't all that smart...

I don't equate it with actual intelligence.  I'd chalk it up to street smarts.  You gotta understand how a grocery store works, what the labeling says and how the products are packaged. 
Speaking of which, off to hell mart with spawn number one.  Seems like a good opporunity to reinforce the learning curve.

[CNYCacher]

Anyone bought lumber recently?  2x10s I recently purchased at HD were 1-3/8 x 9.

Not 9-1/2, an even 9 inches.

[Scout26]

Anyone bought lumber recently?  2x10s I recently purchased at HD were 1-3/8 x 9.

Not 9-1/2, an even 9 inches.

Which makes owning a 60+ yo house interesting....the 2x4's really are 2"x4"....

[Hawkmoon]

Anyone bought lumber recently?  2x10s I recently purchased at HD were 1-3/8 x 9.

Not 9-1/2, an even 9 inches.

And yet, several years ago when I suggested to a lumber industry representative that they should stop playing with "soft" metrication and simply adopt real metric dimension, they said it was impossible because the cost of retooling the lumber AND construction industries would be prohibitive.

Mind you, when I was a lad a 2x4 measured 1-5/8" x 3-5/8". And I've worked on old houses in which 2x4s measured 2" x 4". A 1-5/8x 3-5/8 is 41.28mm x 92.08mm. Today, a 2x4 is (I think still) 1-1/2 x 3-1/2, which is only 38.10mm x 88.90mm. So the industry was able to downsize the members that much without causing any catastrophic impact on either the sawmills or the carpenters, but to shift back to even metric dimensions that fall neatly between those sizes (40x90) would be "impossible"?

Corporate spokespersons are akin to politicians: You know they're lying when their lips are moving.

[Azrael256]

While there's "No Inflation"

There is only inflation if you drive, eat, stay warm, and like the lights on.  Excluding these unnecessary expenditures, inflation is only up .25% over the last decade.

[HForrest]

It seems to me that Ben and Jerry's used to be the more expensive premium ice cream, I never remember seeing it below $4 but I always used to find Haagen Dazs for around $3 a pint on sale. In recent years, Haagen Dazs shrunk their pint size considerably and I never see it on sale anymore; it's consistently like $4.79 or something.

Meanwhile, I now routinely see sales on the still pint-sized Ben and Jerry's that bring it down to $3/pint all the time. Never used to like Ben and Jerry's much, but I've become a fan of the "Chocolate Therapy" flavor.