Like Mothra attacking Rome, Andrew says that the dread grocery shrink ray has hit his beloved Pasta Roni.
Here, the ruse of “New Look! Same Great Taste!” has been deployed. They logo was moved to the top and some doodads added on the bottom. Maybe they hope shoppers eyes will be lured away from the weight indicator, which has decreased from 4.8 to 4.6 oz.
Perhaps they should also rename it the “San Fran Treat.”
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does 0.2oz matter? I bet your still getting the same amount of pasta in both boxes
Stupid question, but were all types of Pasta Roni 4.8 across the board? I notice the boxes being compared are for two different types…
Ummm…these products look similar, but are named differently. Although the ‘Same Great Taste” seems to indicate there originally was a product with the same name to compare it to. To add weight to my argument, google “Vermicelli vs Angel Hair” they are different kinds of pasta. I think he may be comparing apples to oranges.
Different varieties have always had different sizes.
On the Pasta Roni website you can see the “Angel Hair Pasta with Herbs” variety in the new packaging with the same size, 136g:
http://www.ricearoni.com/Products/Pasta_Roni/Classic_Favorites/Angel_Hair_Pasta_with_Herbs
No shrink ray here.
Perhaps this would be a better picture for this article: http://bit.ly/ctoriK
Did every flavor of Pasta Roni change from 4.8oz to 4.6 or am I suppose to assume that Angel hair Pasta with Herbs is the exact same thing as Garlic & Olive Oil Vermicelli? Comparing two different types of pasta doesn’t make sense.
Even if these were the same variety, I can’t imagine that 2/10oz of pasta or spices would make that much difference to their bottom line, unless they’re selling a *lot* more of this stuff than I think they are.
figured this would be a good place for OT:
OT: is anyone else having problems with logging in and commenting?
I am using IE8 here at work
Webpage error details
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Timestamp: Mon, 9 Aug 2010 17:25:47 UTC
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Yup. With Firefox and Chrome, too.
Yep. I’m having huge issues. You do realize the hilarity of posting whether anyone is having posting issues, knowing that if people are having posting issues, their post saying so probably won’t make it to the site, right?
Ha, yeah, I know. but I figured maybe it was intermittent since I’ve been able to comment/log-in twice.
And the contact us/about us link is broken and I didn’t know who to contact.
You got that right. I’ve been having issues today myself. As many times as I try to click “SUBMIT” nothing happens, though anything elseI click around here works fine. Didn’t try clicking “PREVIEW” though. Maybe because I’m typing this on my desktop computer and not my laptop, it may magically work, and if it does, I’ll then have to go back and try replying to some previous articles I read tonight. Cross fingers, hope and pray…don’t work. JavaScript snafu in Movable Type? Is this just a Firefox issue? It is on both machines. Is it the same with Chrome? If this reply works, than no. Otherwise, WTF?
I’m having a fuckton of trouble just responding to you – which is weird, I can on other comments.
I’m having a fuckton of trouble just responding to you – which is weird, I can on other comments.
YAY
Yeah so FF, IE, GC, Opera – tons of trouble commenting/logging in since this weekend. No idea why other than it happened before.
The site comments and logging in have been a horror show all day. Still can’t get the comments to load at all on the Target post, and was only able to get the login box just now, after trying a dozen times over the day. Ugh.
Consumerist probably just moved their Internet account to Comcast……..
Method for getting comments through: Hit preview, then submit. Seems most effective.
You know is more than 4.8 oz. and costs less? Actual pasta.
In other words, I make my own pasta at home (I have no idea what a roni is).
Get off your high horse. It’s $1 for pasta with a decent tasting sauce that is a meal for 1 person or a side for 2-3. I make better pasta sometimes at home too. It’s much more expensive to make and takes more than the 5 minutes needed for this. Not everyone has the time or financial situation to buy things to make quality pasta sauces.
Exactly. I make fresh pasta when I can, but when I can’t I make pasta roni. Fresh pasta is MUCH more expensive.
OK, I don’t understand you. A pound of boxed pasta is often a buck or less, which is a ton of food. A decent pasta sauce (like Bertolli or Barilla) is often $2.50 or less and comes in many varieties and flavors.
And how long does it take you to boil pasta and heat up some sauce? 15 mins, tops? Not only are you getting a huge amount of food that is higher in quality and taste it’s cheaper and has none of the sodium and preservatives. Isn’t that worth an extra 10 minutes of your time?
If that’s your idea of yummy homemade pasta + sauce made at home, you haven’t lived, my friend. We’re talking about amazing homemade sauce here, not a jar of tomato sauce.
I would say Prego + a box of spaghetti is about the same as these boxes of stuff taste-wise, and yes, probably 3x or more as expensive for 3x the stuff. Neither amazing nor horrible. Good for a cheap and quick dinner.
No, I make my own sauce. You’re the one who countered with the “it takes too long” comment. My suggestion of buying sauce in jar was the solution. If you think Pasta-Roni tastes the same as a decent brand of sauce then there is no point in continuing this discussion.
Personally I find the stuff horribly salty and not that flavorful. But to each their own.
You know, with all the time you guys spent shooping a red box onto that photo, you’d think you would have noticed they were two different products.
Consumerist is getting to be the Weekly World News of Consumers Union.
But those aren’t even the same items. Did they have the same UPC sku#s?
In my kitchen we have a few of these, all with different weights.
Shells & White Cheddar: 6.2oz
Fettuccine Alfredo: 4.7oz
Parmesan Cheese: 5.1oz
Butter & Garlic: 4.7oz
Garlic & Olive Oil: 4.6oz
Seems like they’re just different kinds. The Butter & Garlic and the Garlic & Olive Oil are almost the same thing and are off by .1 oz. Perhaps the Angel Hair with Herbs was discontinued, as I haven’t seen it around.
Give me back my noodles Romanoff! Man, I miss that stuff!