Because the net weight (4 oz.) of the smaller tube is so hard to read and deceptively concealed...

It could also be a shipping/packaging thing. Boxes that are all the same size are probably much easier to ship than two attached boxes that are different sizes, especially when you think about putting together a shipping carton of them.

I bought into one of these a couple years ago. The difference was the 2nd full-size box contained one of those little ketchup packets of toothpaste.

May those responsible wake in their already buried coffin to find it's 8 inches too short.

@SBR249: You're kidding, no? I'm calling OP blame! :)

Also, was this really priced as a "double pack"? Because it looks to me to be more like a free sample sort of thing; the second "bonus" toothpaste, remember, is a totally different type, and since they're calling it "Advanced", may very well be more expensive.

@legwork: Call it whatever you want, but this isn't a new phenomenon. I find it hard to believe anyone could have thought they were buying two tubes of the same size. Even if the boxes were similarly sized, the uneven weight distribution would have been obvious when picking up the box.

Double pack products are usually cleared marked as a double pack and not as a pack with a "bonus". If it's a bonus, then 99.9% of the time it'll be a smaller "sampler" package. The bigger box was probably used for ease of packaging and shipping as 44 in a Row said.

@44 in a Row: @SBR249:
I agree, I think Carey's reaching on this one, the net weight is right there, twice, in fact. This was a waste of time reading, they must be running out of things to run on their grocery shrink ray feature...

@legwork: I agree. It was a bonus tube, with clearly written labeling and was packaged as such, IMO for ease, not deception. I'm not saying Colgate didn't get a two-fer bang by using that box, but I don't think deception was intentional...

This is simply not deception. First thing I read was it was a bonus 4 oz tube, not the 7.8 oz. It even points to the total net weight. People just need to read rather than assume.

Am I the only one who is confused about what happened here?

@temporaryscars:

It looks like someone bought a product with a free bonus item and are upset about it.

@temporaryscars: No, you're not. If I'm reading correctly, there were 2 tubes, one of which was 4.0 oz. If the second tube was 7.8 oz, then I agree with Wyndikan that there was no deception. But it's not entirely clear from the text.

It looks to me like a free tube of a different product line. If it's free... wouldn't this be the opposite of grocery shrink?

No deception at all. It was done to equal the size for shipping. Besides, the bonus was free, right? Say thank you, and toss the empty boxes into the recycle bin.

hmmmm.... I feel for the OP, but take it as a lesson learned, and compare the oz. per container next time. It doesn't say "Twin pack" like you would see when you are trying to get a deal on the price.

Sometimes, it takes people a while to learn how to bargain shop -- You are bound to get burned if you don't pay attention.

The sizes are clearly labeled, and I always check. I saw right away the one box was 4 oz

First of all, the boxes are clearly labeled. And yes, items are much easier to pack, ship, and display when all the boxes are the same size.

And second, buy plain old boring toothpaste. You don't need "Total" toothpaste, you don't need "Advanced Clean" (whatever that means--I thought clean means clean,) you don't need an "extra clean and healthy mouth" (again, whatever that means.) You (generally) need a toothpaste which will get your teeth clean, get rid of morning breath, and provide fluoride. (And no, I'm not getting into a fluoride argument here.)

The cheapest brand name toothpaste on the shelf will provide those things. And plain old "Colgate Toothpaste" is usually about half the cost of "Colgate Total Advanced Clean" toothpaste with the pretty foil covered box.

I ran into this at Target Friday. Target used to sell double packs where it was two equally sized tubes wrapped together. I have bought those before because they were usually slightly less in price. The "bonus pack" labeled ones are deceptive because the bonus box is the exact same size, you have to look closer to see one is a small tube. Unlike Garnier who bundle a large bottle of hair product with a smaller bottle of hair product shrink wrapped to the bottle so you clearly see your getting a small additional product.

What was totally vexing is Target no longer sells just plain old Colgate. I spent a good five minutes double checking and and looking behind packs. Nope, no more plain old Colgate. They are now all of the super duper hyped special junk. My guess is that they charge more for these super duper versions and the usually cheap plain old Colgate just has a smaller profit margin.

I may check Walgreens and the grocery stores and stock up on the plain Colgate if it is going to be phased out.

The print on these bonus boxes where the ounces is listed is really really small. It is easier to read in the picture above. Reading it in the store required me holding it a few inches away from my face since I didn't have reading glasses. You have to really look to realize your not buying two tubes of full sized toothpaste.

The tubes are labeled, so I wouldn't call complete foul, but if you were in a hurry and not paying attention, you might have mistaken the "bonus" tube for a full-sized one.

Whether or not that's intentional at some level is probably a secret that we'll never know the answer to.

@nsv: I'd like to see some kind of scientific report on whether the super-duper Total Extra-Clean Tartar-Protection Extra Whitening stuff is anything different than what's in the cheap tubes. I look for the cheapest name-brand toothpaste I can find. I think the last one was a 3-pack of Pepsodent for $2.99 (and yes, they were all full-sized tubes).

Although this isn't the grocery shrink ray (nor is this interesting or uncommon at all, definitely OP's fault)... Is anyone else getting tired of every other post on this site for the last month being grocery shrink ray? We get it, products are shrinking... Our economy sucks, what do you expect? If they don't cut something to make a profit we won't have any products to buy and complain about later.

Come on guys, enough with the shrink ray.

Nation of whiners.

Um, the package CLEARLY states that you only get a 'bonus' of 4 oz. They probably packaged it in the same size box so it would look better and fit better on shelves.

@1800higgins: You're right. Shrink ray stuff is good to know, but it is getting to be a bit much.

Maybe a one or twice a week summary of the shrink ray casualty list?

Every time I hear someone expounding the benefits of a free market and wishing loudly for de-regulation, I think "That person is an idiot."

Yeah, I'm going to have to go with this as being deceptive on the part of Colgate.

Reaching again here? I know Nick likes you guys to post as much as possible here, but lets have some standards, OK?

Not being able to read/comprehend packaging is a consumer's problem, not a Colgate problem.

I see nothing wrong with that.

many times, companies will put "bonus" sample items packaged with their "main" product as a way to try something new.

Having the same size box for both - I would think would make it MUCH MUCH MUCH easier to stacking on the shelf.

Anyway, nothing wrong with what this company done here.

How is any of this deceptive? You buy Colgate Clean Mint, you get a BONUS 4oz Colgate Advanced Clean. It's all right there in red and blue lettering.

Carey's next post about Smart Water "Oh it didn't make me any smarter, it's deceptive advertising!"

It's easier to ship equally sized packages. Colgate's simply looking at this from a logistical standpoint. If you have to ship different sized packages bundled together it creates a nightmare when trying to pack pallets. This in turn could potentially add additional costs which would be passed along to the consumer that would likely me significantly more then the cost of the extra packaging to make the boxes the same size. Also the packages are clearly marked and it's fairly easy for people with basic math skills to realize 4oz is smaller then 7.8.

They're not even the same product. It's obviously not a double pack. There's nothing about two boxes that have different labels and are different products that would logically make anyone believe it's two of the same thing. Consumers have to be willing to take a basic level of responsibility for label-reading, and this falls well within that standard. I've seen packaging like this a hundred times, and I've never been misled by it.

I was, however, misled by the photo appearing at the top of the post, which carefully trims out the primary box that the consumer purchased, thus concealing until after the jump the fact that they're clearly different products and it's perfectly clear that it's not a double pack.

@FilthyHarry: What does that have to do with this?

When I saw the packaging, I knew what it was. There isn't a way you can mistake this for a twin pack or a larger size. Just read the box.

@snakeskin33: I noticed the careful photo cropping as well. It was needless. Perhaps it's the Consumerist that is engaging in deceptive 'marketing' here?

I was glad to see that pretty much everyone commenting agrees that this falls short of the standard 'shrink ray' deception. Colgate is offering a bonus tube of 'advanced clean' with its 'clean mint' variety. The company is engaging in a strategy to convert consumers much like bohemian, that insist on a standard variety (for no reason, in the view of Colgate).

While the small box within a larger box is clearly redundant & perhaps a notch towards deceptive, the only way a person would not recognize the difference between the tubes is if s/he simply grabbed it without looking. We are taking an entirely too victimized approach to shopping if we blame Colgate for offering us a bonus.

@Grrrrrrrrr: Having sat in on way too many marketing strategy meetings, it probably went down as the dual box is easier to pack and display with the added bonus of snagging a certain percentage of extra sales as the terminally hurried and unobservant grab it assuming it is two full sized packs.

Human behavior plays a huge role in how products are marketed to the consumer.

I was shopping for toothpaste the other day. I usually get Sensodyne fresh mint ([us.sensodyne.com]) but while in the aisle I saw a new variety called ProNamel ([us.sensodyne.com]). Now, I have a very acidic mouth and could use all the enamel protection I can get, so I was interested.

I picked up the two packages and held them up to each other: each contains EXACTLY THE SAME acvitve ingredients, in the same concentrations.

Looking now at the website, even their "extra whitenening" formula ([us.sensodyne.com]) has the same breakdown.

If all these have the same biological activity, how do they get off marketing them as different products?

hahaha this one took me awhile, because I thought that the top package was the bonus package, when it was actually the bottom one.

It's all clearly marked and was done for packaging purposes. No trickery or deception, he should have just taken the time he spent typing a post and taking pictures of it, to have read the package carefully.

Also, I'm almost positive that Colgate packages the "bonus" on top of the regular item, so he was the one being deceptive by the way he displayed this picture. boo.

And not only does it clearly state the net wt (twice) on the box, they also made sure that the artwork was printed smaller on the second box - to show the actual size of the tube inside.

Yah, so not deceptive. The boxes are clearly marked. I check all sizes and such before buying anything.

Also, the intro picture on the Consumerist's main page is deceptive. I did not like how they cropped the picture as you don't know what's going on until after you jump to the comments. I was quite confused as I thought both the boxes that were on the main page were bundled together until I jumped and a third box (the main box from the sale in question, as the bottom box had nothing to do with it) magically appeared.

Nothing deceptive when is states clearly "BONUS 4.0 oz"
Boo-hoo.

@GeoffinAround: Careful - I've made a remark about how in a different subject how Consumerist makes stories "lean" a certain way instead of telling only the truth, and I got banned. (TWICE) - lucky someone who works at Consumerist seen how I did nothing wrong and unbanned me each time...... but now I will not say anything negative about Consumerist since it is an unwritten rule that you can not talk bad about them. So be careful.

@Clold: While the active ingredients in each formulation is the same, active ingredients solely apply to the ingredients that clean your teeth and reduce sensitivity. It is the inactive ingredients that will provide secondary benefits like whiten teeth and harden enamel. The normal Sensodyne is the only one with dyes, the whitening one is the only one with the whitening agent pentasodium triphosphate.

Yep, I don't like to blame the op but he is in the wrong or at the least being way too anal.

He is complaining that a Free tube of toothpaste came in a larger box then normal, when the size of the free toothpaste is clearly marked on the box. Shouldn't he be pleased he got an extra 52 percent of product for free?

I can personally vouch for these being free as I buy these packages at times. They will be on shelf having ,maybe 5-10 of these and then the rest being older boxes not having the bonus. I get charged the same price whether I buy the bonus pack or the regular.

Give me a break....

1)Box : Logistics
2)Deception : Sorry as colgate we forgot to call your cell phone to tell you that the FREE toothpaste you will be getting will be 4 o.z. and not the ASSUMED 7.8 o.z.

Just because the box does not contain the maximum size of the product doesn't mean it's deceptive--it's written on the package exactly the amount of toothpaste. I think they ended up packaging it this way because having a large box shrink wrapped with a small box leads to open spaces within the packing. This increases the chances of damaging the contents inside of large shipping boxes.

The truth is in the hole of the beholder.

If you see a wrong sized box, you see deception. If you see the right-sized box, you see easy shipping. People can see it either way.

I believe the bottom box is the same size to help ease shipping and storing.

Just back from my neighborhood chain drugstore. I read this item before I left, so, just for fun, thought I would take a look at the colgate section.

Colgate marketing seems to have a plastic wrap fetish. I found toothpaste wrapped with toothbrushes, dental floss, mouthwash, and lots and lots of tubes of toothpaste bundled with another tube of toothpaste. Here is where it gets interesting. The brush, floss, mouthwash- all bundled with clear plastic in odd shaped bundles. The toothpaste with samples had a smaller box bundled to it. The equal size double bundles contained two equal size tubes or bottles.

This example noted above seems pretty clearly designed to trick. Otherwise it would not have been put in two printed boxes.

And by the way- I LOVE the shrink ray stuff. Not to mention that the blind loyalty so often evidenced here for corporate America sorta suggests that there is a need to prove it is happening in so many different ways.

How many people suggested that this guy, just buying toothpaste in a double box to save another purchase down the road, should have examined the box to be sure that there was not another box wedged inside with a mini tube of the stuff. Really??

As it is I have to check manufacture country, expiration dates, figure out if the stuff even has fluoride in it, and hopefully find it for an affordable price. I think that is enough to ask of any consumerist.

Hmm. This could have easily been made up for if the package had contained a Tiny USB Stick™.

not checking oz = fail

It says 4.0 OZ TWICE (on each side!!!), and even has a bundle total. You should be facepalming, not whining about deception.

OP isn't complaining, the guy he quotes is. OP only states Colgate is wasting paper, which I agree with :P

@EtherealStrife: Agreed.
Thankfully I don't have this "problem." I just stick with the same toothpaste I've been using for years.