While on an almond hunt at Walgreen’s, Willard encountered this side-by-side display of Blue Diamond Almonds. Both contain 24 ounces and cost $6.99, but one bag claims to have “50 percent more free.”
Willard is putting out a bounty for someone to find a 16-ounce bag of almonds that costs $6.99. The reward he’s offering: 50 percent more than nothing.
UPDATE: Brian claims the bounty, having discovered a 16-ounce bag of almonds at Walgreen’s online for $7.99.
More From Consumerist
-
Study Links Consumption Of Diet Drinks To Depression
-
The Good News Is Consumer Spending Is Up — But Only Because Gas Is So Pricy
-
Denny’s Franchisee To Add 5% “Obamacare Surcharge”
-
AT&T Offers Me A Discount On Wireless Service & Then Backs Out… Now What?
-
All Of The Summer Items At CVS That Are 50% Off Are 50% Off
They were going to double the price but instead went with this tactic.
In other news, those Blue Diamond Smokehouse almonds are awesome. The jalapeño ones are even better.
I have not tried the Jalapeno, but the smokehouse ones are great. My favorite are the wasabi & soy sauce variety, but it’s not available in the jumbo bag.
I too love the wasabi and soy sauce variety.
The Habenero BBQ is my favorite…ironically not as spicy as the jalapeno smokehouse, though.
The shrink ray is about to hit!
I would agree. That’s exactly what Prell shampoo did a couple of years ago.
By 50%?
Yupp I have seen this tactic before, the shrink ray is about to hit, and they just labeled the old size as 50% more to explain why the same price bags have a 50% difference in volume.
Alternatively, if they do make a 16 oz bag, this could have been a “promo” item that the chain has decided to “price up” and keep the profit rather than offer it at the MSRP. I’ve seen it happen with other products, the manufacturer puts out a bag that has bonus content in it, but the retailer marks it up totally negating the “bonus”. And they can do it because the bonus packs have different UPC codes than the normal packs for differentiation.
My guess is the product wasn’t selling well so they changed nothing except the packaging to make stupid people think they are getting a deal.
Sounds like a great deal.
Uh, that looks like a sticker someone randomly put on there.
You sure? They managed to find one that uses the same blues as in the original packaging.
This sticker bandit problem is getting out of control. In my area it’s not uncommon for a bunch of kids to hit two or three stores in an evening, just slapping bogus promotional stickers all over the merchandise. Hate ‘em.
I like the ones that say 25% MORE! (than the other brand)
It means 50% more blue ink
Maybe there is more in there.
If you go buy a bag of chips, the whole thing isn’t full, almost half of it is filled with air.
So it’s possible that there is more.
Or, maybe some punk ass kid put a sticker from something else on the bag.
But then shouldn’t they have changed the number of ounces on the bag?
50% MORE* FREE
* Compared to product with net weight two/thirds of this package
Unfortunately, people’s math is bad enough that even with that disclaimer, they might think “ooh, 2/3, that’s only 33% less, so I get 50% more now. AWESOME.”
http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=158269&catid=76760&aid=337953&aparam=blue_diamond_almonds_sm&CAWELAID=61289954
16 ounces for $8.99
Yeah, almonds tend to be expensive. I try to stock up when I can find them for $2.99/lb, but I see them in the neighborhood of $7/lb pretty often.
What they meant was that there are 50% more (smaller than the original) almonds in that bag.
“x% more free” is often the anti-shrink ray. Quietly shrink the package to save money; loudly increase it to increase sales. The sleight of hand is seamless, except during the transitionary periods where both the old and the new packaging is on the shelf.
I’m curious about the dates on the packaging. This could be long enough after the “50% more free” phase that the package on the left is the new package where the gain is no longer touted.
On a side note, smoked almonds are digusting.
I just love the idea of an Almond Hunt. Sounds like he got his almond hunting gear on and stalked into the store, pith helmet on his head and spear in hand.
Yum, almonds!
Usually in the fine print on those bags, you’ll see something like “than our competition’s regular size”. I’m 99% sure it’s there on that bag of almonds if you look for it.
What a scummy advertising trick.
The 50% more is the old bag. It’s been 50% more long enough that it’s now just the regular size. Did the products have expiration dates on them? That would confirm.