Have you ever stopped and noticed the product you bought a while ago being smaller now than it was before? Well, perhaps you weren’t dreaming when you thought that. With recent inflation that has touched most countries all around the world, companies now more than ever are trying to hike up the prices for their products, and some of them are smaller than before, be it a roll of toilet paper or even a pack of gummy bears.
A popular subreddit called “Shrinkflation” has consumers posting and discussing all the ways the manufacturers are trying to trick our eyes into thinking that the product is still the same, whether it may be the size, formula, or even subtle changes in the packaging quality.
If you’d love to see more products that were “shrunken” in size, make sure to check out our previous post on Bored Panda by clicking here.
This post may include affiliate links.
Hellofresh 10 Oz Meat Package
Nowadays, as inflation reached a 40-year high in a lot of countries across the globe, many are struggling to make ends meet. Meanwhile, companies are continuing to scam everyday people, making life more difficult while most of us are counting our pennies.
I Really Hate These Tactics To Deceive
Dove Soap Shrinks Again!
idk why, but since i was a kid i’ve always love the way these look.. when i was 7 i would beg my mom to just let have a soap to myself to stare at 😭😭
Shrinkflation is a strategy often used by businesses to subtly lower a product's size or weight in order to make savings without raising the overall price. There’s also an uncommon kind of shrinkflation when a business substitutes less expensive ingredients or increases the amount of water while reducing the amount of other ingredients in their products.
The Big Mac Pickle Is Thicker Than The Big Mac Patty!
Wtf, Crayola??? I Spent $9 On A Set Of Colored Pencils With A Good Variety Of Colors, Only To Find Out The Pencils Aren't Full Size. Nowhere Does The Packaging Indicate They're Colored Golf Pencils
With that being said, a lot of concerned people online tend to think that companies should be striving to become more clear about being transparent given their practices, especially price increases as well as explaining why they are happening in the first place.
Gatorade Using Same Size Bottle With Bigger Indent
I Noticed The Cans Were Shaped Differently — Taller But Narrower — Then Found Some Older Chunky Cans Hidden In The Back
Shouldn't the old cans be in the front? Ya know, rotate stock correctly?
Still, in some countries, like Brazil, companies cannot get away with reducing the product’s size or quantity without them having to state that on their labels for the next 6 months.
While some countries have laws to protect their consumer rights to a great extent, do you think other countries should be following that example in times like these as well?
School Meals In 2022
Well, there's that parenting thread where the kid wanted chicken with no meat.
They just didn't expect that the void would stare right back.
Load More Replies...This looks like a mistake and not a deliberate reduction in the size of the filling. Quite how they managed to form the breadcrumbs around the non-existant filling is another matter!
The 'filling' is there....the breadcrumbs are surrounding what looks to be very flattened chicken ick. At least that's what I'm seeing...I had to look a few times.
Load More Replies...The chicken 🐓 legged it, but then so would I if I was being breadcrumbed!
Is this an example of those "empty calories" nutritionists warn about?
How is that even made that way to look like a full patty but with the hollow center?
School lunches are the worst. They don’t even get you full
Same happened with my Stouffer's Fish and Mac & Cheese frozen dinner. Fish was half the size of the breading. I don't know how they did it.
Where'd The Rest Of The Tube Go?
They Are Coming For Our Shop Towels, Same Price As Before
This is like when you cut an avocado and the seed is as big as the moon, leaving you with a teaspoon of actual fruit.
They're Starting To Get More Creative
Thought This Group Was A Joke… I’m Sorry
Chobani Raised Their Prices And Then Cut The Amount Of Toppings By 2/3rds On The Flips. Won't Be Buying These Anymore
Yeah, Nobody Is Gonna Notice The One Missing Chocolate Bar. First Time Posting On Here, So Sorry If Something Similar Has Been Posted Before
This will cause fights. 12 is evenly divisible up to four children. 11 is prime...
Jack In The Box Taco. 4 Tacos All Like This
That's not a taco-- that's blueprints for a taco, complete with a sample of each ingredient.
“500g Ain't 500g These Days“
I read somewhere that there is a +- allowed difference. Not sure if 5% or 10%. And some producers, to increase profit, use it to their advantage.
20 Fewer Tabs And Also 20% Price Increase
They Shrunk My Grilled Fish
This Is False Advertising "The Original"
Coke Machine vs. Product Dispensed
This is a case of the owner of the vending machine stocking it with the smaller bottle, not an issue of Coke actually shrinking the product. The 20 oz bottles are normally sold individually, while the 16.9 oz bottles are the ones usually sold in a 6 pack.
Big Mac Has Now More Pickle Than Meat On The Top Bun
Either The Dish Grew Or Dr. Oetker Is Shrinking Their Frozen Pizzas, They Used To Fit Perfectly
Figured Out What "Improved" Means
I make croutons when our bread gets stale. Cut into cubes, toss lightly with EVOO and any seasonings you like. Bake at 350 for 10 to 20 minutes stirring once or twice. Cool and store in air tight container or ziplock bags. You can even freeze them as long as they are completely dry first
Haven’t Been To Chipotle In Awhile. What The Actual F* Happened To Their Burrito Sizes? They Used To Be Footballs
now i want a burrito. but this is true, i remember their burritos being units.
Hellofresh. Only Weighed Because I Saw Another Post A Few Days Ago Like This
Old Stock (64oz) On Sale To Make Room For New Stock (48oz) - Both $7.99
okay but can we talk about how good these are? sugar content be damned those are deliSh
Some Trickery From Trader Joe's
Colgate Total Same Price New Size
i just brushed my teeth with like almost the exact same tube 💀
The Bastards Got Me. 14 Oz Ice Cream In The Same 1 Pint Package. Yes That's An Air Gap To Try And Hide It
Cut in half and then weigh to make sure it's even. That's how we split icecream with my husband, leaving nothing to chance. 🙃
It's Real
Oh You Were Hoping For 10? Sorry
That's a bit ridiculous. Since they redesigned packaging anyway, could have made it into 3x3 rows instead.
Aveeno: Oh Hey We Have A Brand New Look! Be Distracted By The Slightly Reformatted Bottle And Ooh New Oats! Yup That's It, Nothing Else To See Here!
What Is This Bro
😂 I can’t anymore. It looks like it got run over!
Campbell's Soup New Taller (But Smaller) Cans
More Dough For Less Bread. Thanks Aunt Millie
Is It Just Me Or Are Digiorno Half The Size It Use To Be?
I've Been Lied Too. I Payed $2 For A 20 Oz Water Bottle Not For A 16.9oz
I’ve Been Using The Same Toothbrush For Over A Decade. Glad They Decided To Save Maybe A Fraction Of A Penny With The Design. Still Almost $7…
A 12ct Box Of Ortega Taco Shells Are Now Almost An Ounce Lighter (About The Weight Of Two Shells) For The Same Price (I Paid $2.29). The New Shells Are Laughably Smaller. And Now A Single Serving Is 3 Shells Instead Of 2. Just Sell Me A 10ct Instead. They're Not Far Off From The Mini-Size Now
Klondike Bar Chocolate Thinner? And A Plastic Wrapper Instead Of Foil
On The Left, Purchased Last Month 11.3oz For $4.98. On The Right, Purchased Yesterday 9.6oz For $5.32. And The Lid Doesn’t Fit Properly On The New Can, It Won’t Stay On
Glass Coke Bottles Shrunk
I Want My 1.6oz Back
Never seen tea in a bottle before. Welcome to the end of the world.
Well Now They’ve Gone Too Far. [keebler Rainbow Chips Deluxe - Should Have 3 M&m’s Per Cookie]
Are they somehow guaranteed to be three M&Ms per cookie? Does the packaging say so? I looked at screenshots of the packaging and I don't see any guarantees of three M&Ms per cookie. The photo of the cookie on the pack has three M&Ms, but product pics on packaging are usually Photoshopped anyway. I'm not trying to say that they're not a gyp, but I don't know where OP is getting "they're supposed to have three M&Ms per cookie" from.
Not The Santitas Chips!!!
The Gag Is, They Raise The Prices Anyway
Almond Breeze Shorting The Weight. I Reported It To My Weight And Measures Agency
Volume is not measured like that. Use a volume meter, usually a recipient with volume markings on it.
Ichiban Flavour Packs Have Gotten Smaller. Found An Old Pack In My Spice Drawer, Old Has Much More Spice Than New
Just because the little sachets are smaller doesn't automatically mean the product is less, they might have been able to fit the same amount of product in a smaller sachet by wasting less space. (I can't actually see anything on those little sachets to indicate the contents have been reduced.)
Ordered A Bec. 7 Bucks. I Actually Laughed When I Opened It
Ihop’s Full Stack Of Pancakes. Not Even Half The Plate Anymore
The thing that makes me angry about this is not that there is less of the product or that it costs more in the end. It makes me really, really angry that the packaging is not shrinked or even bigger than before (to scam customers). That's such a waste of resources the planet and we cannot afford.
Resources??? How about the fact that they charge MORE...for LESS... and while we pay much more for basic necessities...the companies are making millions, if not billions, in profit per quarter... hope s**t changes soon...and we all see the fuckery that's eating us alive
Load More Replies...That's why they need regulations, period. If a totally free market would exist, rid of all regulation and liability, what would companies do then? What they did BEFORE stuff got regulated - poison rivers, trash their surrounding, rip off customers. A market within the boundaries we agree upon is totally fine, but unless regulation is sufficiently in place, ripping off people still is profitable and therefore, done. Shareholders don't care about that. We haven't understood yet that capitalism is what the name indicates, not like communism or socialism (where the real systems declared being such were neither good, nor what they were calling themselves), capitalism means the regentship of capital. And as ripping off customers by limiting choices and halfway disguised resizing stuff improves profit, even if peopel are pissed at it, it is one of their ways to squeeze out whatever they get their hands on. As alsway - companies collect the federal aides to reduce the impact of inflation, shift the cost to the customers and/or working people, and still never stop complaining how hard everything is and how they provide for everyone and take risks and stuff. Bollocks, am Arsch, you are ripping off anyone and your own Grandma, dear four major food companies left on this earth, and you should not get away with it.
Load More Replies...Could this fall under some mental abuse law? This is sort of like gaslighting, but on a major scale.
Early this year Charmin toilet tissue suddenly got about 1cm (1/2") narrower. I noticed it when I switched rolls because my old holder barely fit the wider ones. (I wish I'd taken a photo of it but given that I still use the same length the width isn't very important anyway.)
Aand local pizza place, who used to have lots of customers and big earnings, is suddenly struggling to keep their business afloat. Probably because their food portions are half the size they used to be, and prices are twice as big.
Packaging designers are blatantly given the brief "we want to make the product 50% smaller and sell it for the same price", so they come up with these ideas. Maybe they should develop a conscience?
It's food. People need to keep buying it to, you know, live.
Load More Replies...There needs to be a packaging law nationwide use as LITTLE packaging to deliver the product, excess packaging will NOT be tolerated and stiff fines will be enforced.
Dear god, no! "Excess" packaging is entirely subjective. Every time we pass laws on purely subjective items we get a massive snarl of exceptions to cover everything. Instead, let us regulate/tax based on the weight ratio of package to product. They won't use anymore than absolutely necessary.
Load More Replies...I have to say that I can relate to this post. I looked down and can certainly say that as time has gone by there has been shrinkage in certain areas and a lot more packaging
Almost every single food package has both on it in the US.
Load More Replies...Hey, we are all driven crazy by this. Time to start a campaign of revenge!!! Put the offending items in your trolley. Take them to the till. Then tell the cashier why you are not buying it, and leave it there. If we all do that, the retailers will go back to the supplier and threaten to de-list (I work in the food industry) and the suppliers will get the message. Who is with me?
This wouldn't accomplish anything other than making the staff have to clean up your mess. If you think the managers and head office people would ever listen to the lowest level staff, you're obviously not clear on how the service industry works
Load More Replies...With a European eye, it looks like your portions and sizes are just becoming normal. Over here, 500 ml, 330 ml and 250 gr portions are the norm. We are based on metric in EU and the weight of products are based on fractions of Kg. I'm in no way defending the companies, but I'm not shocked either.
This is happening everywhere, frozen mini spring rolls, same weight but all wrap with NO FILLING.
Now if only we could go back to the days when healthy competition and local sourcing helped drive innovation and product excellence…
I'm assuming you're referring to events like Heinz purchasing as many glass bottles as they could and dumping them in the river to cause supply problems for their competitors?
Load More Replies...I know that this is a tactic, but people who are weighing stuff at home should verify that their scale are accurate by weighing other things that are a known weight. Scales drift out of calibration pretty easily. I use scales at my job and they need calibrating every other month.
Genuinely wondering: How much money can a company make by cutting back on a few ounces of a product, but then having to buy or produce new size packaging? In addition to reprogramming the machines?
Reprogramming the machines is easy. Packing lines often fill different sizes of products. The aggregate cost of decreasing the amount by an ounce adds up quickly. Producing new packaging is easy too. It's just buying a slightly different of the shelf item and having the computer print the new image on the box.
Load More Replies...If someone buys processed foods consequences must be taken. Anyway, reading the label is not rocket science.
The problem isn't so much that there is less product; it's that there is less product for the same price, usually in modified packaging that is meant to trick the purchaser into thinking they are getting the same or more. It's deceptive in it's entirety. There was one I saw of two jars of tomato sauce, one jar was bigger and the price to weight ratio was the same but when you looked at the nutrition lable, the bigger jar had more water content making the serving size to cost ratio worse than the smaller jar. It's not a matter of there being less, it's a matter of there being less and them being sneaky about it. The idea is you won't miss 7 less chips in the bag if the price doesn't go up but when it keeps happening eventually the price still goes up and you still have 7 less chips.
On top of that grocery stores are designed to drain decision making power from the minute you step in the door. The consumer barely has the chance to make an informed decisions, not only would they have to stand there and check every lable comparing the cost to weight and cost to serving ratios, but also remember if the last time they bought it if it was 12 in a box or 11. If the company left the amount in the package alone and raised the price, then the consumer would be less likely to buy it based on that. Instead they make it slightly less, then in a few months make it slightly more expensive .
Load More Replies...what I hate most is that these manufacturers seem to think we are fools
Those who do this I'd love to so the same to them when buying a car/house or holiday just so when they complain I could turn around and tell them that's how we feel when they shafted us
I remember a few years back when ice cream went from half gallon (64 oz.) containers to 48 oz. containers. Then one of the local supermarket chains had the gall to "introduce" "larger size" 64 oz. containers back into the rotation. As if we didn't remember.
Same with baking sheets in Dollarstore (Sweden), it was 2 packages for 20 kr, now it says "new bigger size" but its the same size as the old and one packages got the same amount and its 20 kr for one package. Thats a rip-off. This was 2 years ago.
All these people complaining would do the exact same thing if they owned the company.
People's reactions seem to be blaming the manufacturers for inflation. That's not how economics works.
Manufacturers/companies are posting record profits. They're using inflation as an excuse to be even more greedy. Certainly not all, but a big enough chunk. Also, they are responsible for the excess packaging.
Load More Replies...The thing that makes me angry about this is not that there is less of the product or that it costs more in the end. It makes me really, really angry that the packaging is not shrinked or even bigger than before (to scam customers). That's such a waste of resources the planet and we cannot afford.
Resources??? How about the fact that they charge MORE...for LESS... and while we pay much more for basic necessities...the companies are making millions, if not billions, in profit per quarter... hope s**t changes soon...and we all see the fuckery that's eating us alive
Load More Replies...That's why they need regulations, period. If a totally free market would exist, rid of all regulation and liability, what would companies do then? What they did BEFORE stuff got regulated - poison rivers, trash their surrounding, rip off customers. A market within the boundaries we agree upon is totally fine, but unless regulation is sufficiently in place, ripping off people still is profitable and therefore, done. Shareholders don't care about that. We haven't understood yet that capitalism is what the name indicates, not like communism or socialism (where the real systems declared being such were neither good, nor what they were calling themselves), capitalism means the regentship of capital. And as ripping off customers by limiting choices and halfway disguised resizing stuff improves profit, even if peopel are pissed at it, it is one of their ways to squeeze out whatever they get their hands on. As alsway - companies collect the federal aides to reduce the impact of inflation, shift the cost to the customers and/or working people, and still never stop complaining how hard everything is and how they provide for everyone and take risks and stuff. Bollocks, am Arsch, you are ripping off anyone and your own Grandma, dear four major food companies left on this earth, and you should not get away with it.
Load More Replies...Could this fall under some mental abuse law? This is sort of like gaslighting, but on a major scale.
Early this year Charmin toilet tissue suddenly got about 1cm (1/2") narrower. I noticed it when I switched rolls because my old holder barely fit the wider ones. (I wish I'd taken a photo of it but given that I still use the same length the width isn't very important anyway.)
Aand local pizza place, who used to have lots of customers and big earnings, is suddenly struggling to keep their business afloat. Probably because their food portions are half the size they used to be, and prices are twice as big.
Packaging designers are blatantly given the brief "we want to make the product 50% smaller and sell it for the same price", so they come up with these ideas. Maybe they should develop a conscience?
It's food. People need to keep buying it to, you know, live.
Load More Replies...There needs to be a packaging law nationwide use as LITTLE packaging to deliver the product, excess packaging will NOT be tolerated and stiff fines will be enforced.
Dear god, no! "Excess" packaging is entirely subjective. Every time we pass laws on purely subjective items we get a massive snarl of exceptions to cover everything. Instead, let us regulate/tax based on the weight ratio of package to product. They won't use anymore than absolutely necessary.
Load More Replies...I have to say that I can relate to this post. I looked down and can certainly say that as time has gone by there has been shrinkage in certain areas and a lot more packaging
Almost every single food package has both on it in the US.
Load More Replies...Hey, we are all driven crazy by this. Time to start a campaign of revenge!!! Put the offending items in your trolley. Take them to the till. Then tell the cashier why you are not buying it, and leave it there. If we all do that, the retailers will go back to the supplier and threaten to de-list (I work in the food industry) and the suppliers will get the message. Who is with me?
This wouldn't accomplish anything other than making the staff have to clean up your mess. If you think the managers and head office people would ever listen to the lowest level staff, you're obviously not clear on how the service industry works
Load More Replies...With a European eye, it looks like your portions and sizes are just becoming normal. Over here, 500 ml, 330 ml and 250 gr portions are the norm. We are based on metric in EU and the weight of products are based on fractions of Kg. I'm in no way defending the companies, but I'm not shocked either.
This is happening everywhere, frozen mini spring rolls, same weight but all wrap with NO FILLING.
Now if only we could go back to the days when healthy competition and local sourcing helped drive innovation and product excellence…
I'm assuming you're referring to events like Heinz purchasing as many glass bottles as they could and dumping them in the river to cause supply problems for their competitors?
Load More Replies...I know that this is a tactic, but people who are weighing stuff at home should verify that their scale are accurate by weighing other things that are a known weight. Scales drift out of calibration pretty easily. I use scales at my job and they need calibrating every other month.
Genuinely wondering: How much money can a company make by cutting back on a few ounces of a product, but then having to buy or produce new size packaging? In addition to reprogramming the machines?
Reprogramming the machines is easy. Packing lines often fill different sizes of products. The aggregate cost of decreasing the amount by an ounce adds up quickly. Producing new packaging is easy too. It's just buying a slightly different of the shelf item and having the computer print the new image on the box.
Load More Replies...If someone buys processed foods consequences must be taken. Anyway, reading the label is not rocket science.
The problem isn't so much that there is less product; it's that there is less product for the same price, usually in modified packaging that is meant to trick the purchaser into thinking they are getting the same or more. It's deceptive in it's entirety. There was one I saw of two jars of tomato sauce, one jar was bigger and the price to weight ratio was the same but when you looked at the nutrition lable, the bigger jar had more water content making the serving size to cost ratio worse than the smaller jar. It's not a matter of there being less, it's a matter of there being less and them being sneaky about it. The idea is you won't miss 7 less chips in the bag if the price doesn't go up but when it keeps happening eventually the price still goes up and you still have 7 less chips.
On top of that grocery stores are designed to drain decision making power from the minute you step in the door. The consumer barely has the chance to make an informed decisions, not only would they have to stand there and check every lable comparing the cost to weight and cost to serving ratios, but also remember if the last time they bought it if it was 12 in a box or 11. If the company left the amount in the package alone and raised the price, then the consumer would be less likely to buy it based on that. Instead they make it slightly less, then in a few months make it slightly more expensive .
Load More Replies...what I hate most is that these manufacturers seem to think we are fools
Those who do this I'd love to so the same to them when buying a car/house or holiday just so when they complain I could turn around and tell them that's how we feel when they shafted us
I remember a few years back when ice cream went from half gallon (64 oz.) containers to 48 oz. containers. Then one of the local supermarket chains had the gall to "introduce" "larger size" 64 oz. containers back into the rotation. As if we didn't remember.
Same with baking sheets in Dollarstore (Sweden), it was 2 packages for 20 kr, now it says "new bigger size" but its the same size as the old and one packages got the same amount and its 20 kr for one package. Thats a rip-off. This was 2 years ago.
All these people complaining would do the exact same thing if they owned the company.
People's reactions seem to be blaming the manufacturers for inflation. That's not how economics works.
Manufacturers/companies are posting record profits. They're using inflation as an excuse to be even more greedy. Certainly not all, but a big enough chunk. Also, they are responsible for the excess packaging.
Load More Replies...