What Irked You Today?

[Rob Hall]

I looked it up. Scott used to be 4.5 inches wide, now it's 4.1. So you're right, it did shrink. At least Scott brand did.

Interesting..downsized TP. But the TP holders are still at the standard width.

I found this article on Toilet Paper World about this phenomenon..from 5 years ago.. http://blog.toiletpaperworld.com/is-my-toilet-paper-shrinking/

As an aside, it is fascinating that there is a blog dedicated to TP..

Edited April 21, 2014 by Rob Hall

[Pete J.]

Shrinking product is definitely not new. This just happens to be the latest round. Hershey is generally credited with "inventing" the idea and it goes back a very long time. Hershey made its name on selling a 5 cent bar. As the prices of chocolate fluctuated they varied the amount of product not the price. It is a well known strategy, especially in industries where raw material prices fluctuate dramatically. People are generally more price sensitive than quantity sensitive. This has happened in a lot of products. About 6 months ago I noticed that Bakers chocolate cut the product in a box by half and quit putting 1 oz. individually wrapped pieces in the box. Instead it now has a single "easy break" bar that has half the chocolate. I was not pleased as it means I have to buy twice as much and had to figure out the recipes that my mother wrote calling for "one square of unsweetened chocolate". Check out your favorite brand of ice cream. I would bet it is not a gallon! They kept the length and width the same but reduced the depth of the carton. As prices rise, you can count on getting a smaller container.

For the woodworkers amongst us, plywood is a great example. Years ago a piece of 3/4" plywood was 3/4" of an inch thick. One day I cut a rabbet 3/4" wide to join two pieces of ply and the fit was very sloppy. I measured the ply and found that it was 23/32". That works out to a single ply in each sheet less. Saves the mill a little bit of material, but ruined a perfectly good project. Since then the router bit makers have made bits(properly labeled) 1/32" undersized to accommodate this. Interestingly when I asked the lumber dealer about it, he said it was because the factory had purchased new equipment from overseas and it was all "metric". Yea......... sounds like BS to me.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Pete J.

[Harry P.]

You're right, the "secret" downsizing of products (especially food/grocery items) has been going on for a long time. Remember when bleach was sold in one gallon jugs? Now the jugs are only 3 quarts. Peanuts (Planter's, Fisher, etc.) used to come in 16 oz (1 pound) bottles... now if you read the label you'll see the contents listed as 14 oz. Same size container, just less product. A "half-gallon" jug of OJ is not 64 ounces anymore. With some brands of soft drinks, they still come in the same size can as ever, but now contain 11.5 oz, not 12. This sort of thing is rampant in the food/grocery industry. They count on the fact that most consumers don't read labels, and most consumers wouldn't notice that they are in fact getting less product than they used to get. It's a sneaky way of raising prices without raising prices.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/29shrink.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[Greg Myers]

and now . . .

[Harry P.]

and now . . .

And "progress" marches on...

[Harry P.]

I've also noticed this trend in laundry detergent. The bottles are a lot smaller than they used to be, so the manufacturer claims the detergent is now "concentrated so you can use less"... but I'd bet most consumers still use the same old amount (capful) that they've become used to using. And I doubt the detergent is actually concentrated at all... there's just less of it, period.

[Greg Myers]

Somewhere toward the end ( carburetors to Fuel injection) GM decided only two hold down studs were necessary for their 2g carburetors, thus , saving thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[Old Buckaroo]

Sheesch - I hate progress.. No tube rolls now ? Now the kiddos will really have to have imaginary binoculars...

An old Rancher in his 80's told me this about 40 years ago -

"Progress , Years ago people use to have outside bathrooms and cook inside the house. Now people are cooking outside and using the bathroom inside the house."

[Pete J.]

I've also noticed this trend in laundry detergent. The bottles are a lot smaller than they used to be, so the manufacturer claims the detergent is now "concentrated so you can use less"... but I'd bet most consumers still use the same old amount (capful) that they've become used to using. And I doubt the detergent is actually concentrated at all... there's just less of it, period.

I use to sell appliances at Sears and the hardest thing I had to get through peoples heads when they bought the new front loaders was to use the right detergent(He, it is sudsless and it is concentrated) and a quarter of a capful was all the detergent you needed. Less if you have a water softener. People just couldn't get it through their head that the machines use a lot less water so putting too much detergent in means a lot of detergent gets left in the cloths. Most people could wash a whole load or two just with the detergent they have left in the fabric. Also, mildew feeds on two things, detergent and your skin cells. Get anything wet(like towels) and you have a perfect recipe for mildew.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Pete J.

[David G.]

Sorry if this is just weird but has anyone else noticed that rolls of toilet paper are getting more narrow ? Used to almost fill the roller side to side and now there is 3 inches of play side to side. Or............ is my wife just buying cheap toilet paper ?

Are you sure its not a register tape?

David G.

[tubbs]

Sorry if this is just weird but has anyone else noticed that rolls of toilet paper are getting more narrow ? Used to almost fill the roller side to side and now there is 3 inches of play side to side. Or............ is my wife just buying cheap toilet paper ?

what about bags of chips that are half full. same with cereal, cheez-its, almost any type of bagged or boxed snack. I understand you are getting the weight that is on the bag, but make the bags smaller.... or will America think they are getting ripped off if they do that?

[Harry P.]

what about bags of chips that are half full. same with cereal, cheez-its, almost any type of bagged or boxed snack. I understand you are getting the weight that is on the bag, but make the bags smaller.... or will America think they are getting ripped off if they do that?

Same with bottled pills like Excedrin, etc. The bottles are less than half full, the number of pills could fit in a bottle half the size. But the bigger bottle makes it look like you're getting more.

[niteowl7710]

Same with bottled pills like Excedrin, etc. The bottles are less than half full, the number of pills could fit in a bottle half the size. But the bigger bottle makes it look like you're getting more.

Well aside from the whole "packed by volume" thing of chips, what difference does it make what size bottle pills come in? There's a number on the box that indicates the total number of pills your getting. So whether they come in a mason jar or a bottle packed so full they explode out like one of those gag cans of Pringles with the "snake" inside you know what you're buying.

I love boxes of fried chicken and things like of that nature that say "Serving Size 1 piece, Servings - Approximately 6"...Approximately 6? Is there 2/3rds of a piece of chicken in there?

[Harry P.]

Well aside from the whole "packed by volume" thing of chips, what difference does it make what size bottle pills come in? There's a number on the box that indicates the total number of pills your getting. So whether they come in a mason jar or a bottle packed so full they explode out like one of those gag cans of Pringles with the "snake" inside you know what you're buying.

Yeah, the actual number of pills is listed on the bottle. But the fact that they use bottles 2-3 times larger than needed isn't an accident.

From Consumer Reports: "Larger packages and bottles can grab a shopper’s attention," says Dave Wendland, vice president of Hamacher Resource Group, which designs how products are organized on drugstore shelves. “That could turn into more sales for the manufacturer,” he adds.

Market research is a pretty sophisticated science.

The practice of using much larger containers than needed to hold the product is called "slack fill," and there are laws against it, as it can be interpreted as deceptive.

http://www.manatt.com/ThreeColumn.aspx?pageid=28295&id=4815

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Same with bottled pills like Excedrin, etc. The bottles are less than half full, the number of pills could fit in a bottle half the size. But the bigger bottle makes it look like you're getting more.

My wife recently got a prescription filled, and it came in this box that was about 4 inches wide, about 5 inches tall and maybe 1 inch deep. She opened the box to find a little bottle like a small asprin bottle in the corner with the box folded inside to hold it in place. She opened the bottle, and there was like 5 or 6 pills in the bottle. All that for 5 or 6 pills. It was just plain silly, but I am sure someone somewhere justified it.

[tubbs]

Yeah, the actual number of pills is listed on the bottle. But the fact that they use bottles 2-3 times larger than needed isn't an accident.

From Consumer Reports: "Larger packages and bottles can grab a shopper’s attention," says Dave Wendland, vice president of Hamacher Resource Group, which designs how products are organized on drugstore shelves. “That could turn into more sales for the manufacturer,” he adds.

Market research is a pretty sophisticated science.

The practice of using much larger containers than needed to hold the product is called "slack fill," and there are laws against it, as it can be interpreted as deceptive.

http://www.manatt.com/ThreeColumn.aspx?pageid=28295&id=4815

I guess that fine and dandy... but aren't we suppose to be saving the environment? I mean if you get 25 pills, why don't they make a container that 25 pills fits in? less plastic on the roadside or in fields or in the landfills. I guess money is more important to these corporate giants that the environment. and no, I am not a freak on that, but I do my part.....

[Harry P.]

I guess that fine and dandy... but aren't we suppose to be saving the environment? I mean if you get 25 pills, why don't they make a container that 25 pills fits in?

Because market research has told them that consumers tend to notice and grab a larger package over a small one, regardless of how many pills are actually in the bottle. A larger bottle on the shelf means consumers will tend to notice that product more than a smaller bottle.

There's even a whole science behind how (and where) products are arranged on supermarket shelves. The placement of the various products on the shelf is not random, or up to the store manager. Manufacturers play "slotting fees" to the stores in order to get a "better" spot on the shelf than their competitors.

The habits of people, as far as grocery shopping goes, is studied down to the tiniest detail. Nothing is done by accident.

[cobraman]

When I worked at Petco I noticed the same thing with dog and cat food. They would keep the bag looking the same and the price the same but if you looked close you would see that 5 lb. bags were now 4.5 lb and the 30 lb bags were now 28 lb and the 40 lb. bags were down sized to 35 lb. Most people did not notice but the ones that did got pretty angry. Most of the companies did the same thing. Science Diet, Iiams, Petagree, Royal Canin, Purina One, Natural Balance and others all did the same thing.

[highway]

Hmmmmmmm.........I just don't know what was worse today, getting in an argument with my better half and my phone earning its last frequent flyer mileage or having to shell out the dough to replace said phone, or StraightTalk's website that would let me do everything BUT register my new phone so I could maybe......oh I don't know......make a call so I could get my work truck fixed!! Air leaking on a truck with AIR BRAKES isn't a good thing, and even worse when you can't call for help!

At least the bright spot, the truck stop I'm in has a McDonald's with free wifi, so after the attempt to use it to register the phone that failed miserably, I tried the old phone to see if I could make one last call, and it did! The buttons are bulging out of it, the screen is no more, but it still dialed and talked, and the new phone was registered, and now road service is on the way!

I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE JUST STAYED IN BED!!!

[Custom Hearse]

Don't stay in bed Matt!!! Get out, enjoy life! Look at all... Uh, Matt? Why are you looking at me that way? Why are you wrapping your fingers around my thr... ACCCKKK!!! *THUMP*...

[niteowl7710]

Did the Qualcomm cease working too? I just put the in the notes "NO CELL SERVICE!" when I got stuck in an area with none, or the time my Samsung bit the big one.

[Agent G]

Two former co-workers passed away in the last two days. One guy and I go way back as we were in the Corps together. The other guy was a lifelong motor cop, friend and mentor.

Danggit.

G

[cobraman]

Sorry to hear that. That's tough. Stay strong !

[Ace-Garageguy]

The practice of using much larger containers than needed to hold the product is called "slack fill," and there are laws against it, as it can be interpreted as deceptive.

Yeah, and I bet they get enforced even less than the texting-while-driving laws do.

... but aren't we suppose to be saving the environment? I mean if you get 25 pills, why don't they make a container that 25 pills fits in? less plastic on the roadside or in fields or in the landfills. I guess money is more important to these corporate giants that the environment. and no, I am not a freak on that, but I do my part.....

You got it.

--------------------------------------------------

A package I'd really love to see....

NEW LARGER PACKAGE !!! COSTS MORE !!! LESS IN IT !!!

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Two former co-workers passed away in the last two days. One guy and I go way back as we were in the Corps together. The other guy was a lifelong motor cop, friend and mentor.

Danggit.

G

I too am sorry to hear this for you.

I have noticed that the older I get, the more you notice people's passing, and of course, the more of them you know.