Not so long ago, Southwest began readjusting the seats on its fleet of Boeing 737 jets, getting rid of 1″ of legroom for each passenger in order to squeeze in an additional six seats. Your initial thoughts might be that this a lot of work for just a few more seats, but when you add it up, you’re talking nearly three quarters of a billion dollars a year. [More]
Baker’s Chocolate Shrink Rays Package From 8 Ounces To 4, Raises Price At Least 50%
By May 10, 2013
Julia was baking from scratch with her kids, and she dispatched them to the store to buy a glorious quantity of chocolate. Two boxes of Baker’s unsweetened chocolate. You know, sixteen ounces. The kids came back with two boxes of chocolate, but only eight ounces total. Julia reports that she had paid $3.99 for the eight-ounce bar, and her kids paid $3.38 for each four-ounce bar. That’s a pretty potent blast from the Grocery Shrink Ray. [More]
Has OXY Face Wash Been Zapped By The Grocery Shrink Ray?
By May 3, 2013
While many items zapped by the Grocery Shrink Ray — which reduces a product’s size but magically keeps the price the same — are the things you love to eat and drink, it’s sometimes the stuff you put on your body that falls victim to the Ray’s reductive ways. [More]
Pringles Multi-Grain Changes Packaging, Size, Grains Under New Owners
By April 25, 2013
Joe is a fan of Multi-Grain Pringles, and he noticed something interesting when he bought a new can. Everything had changed. The snack had slightly different ingredients, different packaging, and of course…had been ever so slightly zapped by the Grocery Shrink Ray. [More]
Russell Stover Chocolate Peanut Butter Bunny Disappoints On Both Counts
By April 9, 2013
Ed sent us these chocolate bunny photos after lunchtime on Monday, which we’re assuming means that he bought them on post-Easter clearance. Even if he did, that doesn’t give Russel Stover an excuse to sell him a skimpy bunny with a meager amount of peanut butter inside. [More]
The Difference Between Family Size And Party Size Doritos: One Ounce
By March 14, 2013
Grocery shopping recently, reader Joseph noticed something interesting: there were two different types of Doritos bags on the shelf that were very close in size, but the same price. The Grocery Shrink Ray is nothing new, but the bags came in two varieties: the positively economical seventeen-ounce “Family Size,” then the small and portable sixteen-ounce “Party Size.” Wait, what? [More]
Aldi Hits Kid’s Krunch Cereal With Sugary, Sugary Shrink Ray
By February 25, 2013
Matthew was shopping for cereal at Aldi when he noticed something interesting. The boxes of Kid’s Krunch cereal had recently been redesigned, and both versions were on the shelf, side-by-side. That’s a nice opportunity to do some comparisons. Unfortunately for Aldi, what he noticed while comparing the old and new boxes was that the cereal just happened to have lost a few ounces in the process. Oh no––the dreaded Grocery Shrink Ray has come to Aldi! [More]
Old Spice Shaves Off .25 Ounces Of Deodorant, Sells For Same Price…Or Does It?
By January 15, 2013
Christopher wrote to us with a tale of deodorant woe. Old Spice, part of Procter & Gamble, repackaged his favorite deodorant product, Old Spice Pure Sport, and skimmed a quarter of an ounce off the top while they were at it. Oh no they didn’t! And…well, actually, they didn’t. The problem isn’t so much that Christopher was too hasty to call the packaging change a case of the Grocery Shrink Ray. It’s that Old Spice’s branding is kind of confusing. [More]
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Feta Cheese, Shrinks Product And Packaging (Updated: Not So Fast!)
By January 7, 2013
UPDATE: Not so fast, Drew! Kraft, parent company of Athenos, contacted us to let us know that they sell six-ounce AND four-ounce packages. When Drew went to buy a package of Athenos feta cheese, he noticed something strange. ” Athenos not only did away with the recently ‘new’ flip top on their feta cheese, replacing it with a decidedly cheaper container, they also removed two entire ounces from the package,” he writes. “I may have to start getting all of my cheese at Sam’s Club now…” [More]
Here Comes The Organic Milk Shrink Ray: One Gallon Is 96 Ounces
By December 17, 2012
Have you bought a gallon of orange juice lately? Yeah, me either. Thanks to the Grocery Shrink Ray, the gallon-like containers of not-from-concentrate OJ first got zapped down to 96 ounces from an actual gallon of 128 ounces, then zapped seven ounces further just to make it more insulting. Now the same process has begun with milk. Organic Valley brand milk, to be precise. [More]
Target Really, Really Wants You To Know They Didn’t Shrink Ray Their Cheese
By December 3, 2012
“Dear Target: Whaddaya want, a medal?” tipster David typed when he sent this photo in using the Consumerist Tipster App. No medals, but it’s kind of sad that a company has to point out that they didn’t use a redesign to decrease the amount of product in a package. [More]
Ronzoni Shrink Rays Pasta Packages, Or Maybe Wants Us To Cut Back On Carbs
By November 5, 2012
Chris brought home a box of Ronzoni’s enriched Smart Taste pasta, then noticed something interesting: the box was smaller than the previous one of the same brands. That’s pretty ordinary around here. What stands out, though, is that the portion guide on the back divides the smaller box up into more servings. Is Ronzoni employing the Grocery Shrink Ray, or trying to get us all to cut back on carbs? [More]
Grocery Shrink Ray Slurps Up Hunt’s Meat (Flavored) Spaghetti Sauce
By November 1, 2012
Zap! David’s family got a few cans of spaghetti sauce out of the pantry when they noticed that they were different sizes. Different brands? No, both cans were Hunt’s meat (flavored) sauce. One was older than the other. One was two and a half ounces smaller than the other. Can you guess which is which? [More]
A 15-Ounce Pound Cake Isn’t A Case Of Grocery Shrink Ray
By October 24, 2012
Readers keep sending us pictures of pound cakes that weigh less than one pound, complaining that they’re exhibits of the Grocery Shrink Ray in action. There’s a problem with that, though: it’s based on the incorrect assumption that a pound cake is supposed to weigh a pound. [More]
Kashi GoLean Cereal Boxes Get A Bit Leaner
By October 19, 2012
Kashi GoLean cereal is supposed to help breakfasters “stay fuller longer,” which might help them slim down a bit, or to keep a slim figure. Clearly it’s working very well for Kashi, because the box has slimmed down by an entire ounce, to only 13.1 ounces from 14.1 ounces. [More]
Sunbelt Granola Bars Class Things Up, Shrink Bars Along The Way
By October 17, 2012
Brad is a daily eater of Sunbelt brand granola bars, so he’s someone who would notice when something changes. As part of a recent rebranding, Sunbelt shrank their bars by quite a bit, increasing the total price per ounce. Reader Brad noticed this and was disappointed. He complained, and got a refund for his trouble. What’s interesting, though, is how the packaging changed in other ways. It’s like the brand got a makeover before it seeks out a classier upscale clientele. [More]
Lender’s Introduces The Baker’s Half-Dozen: Five Bagels
By October 4, 2012
Kroger is ever so thoughtful. Maybe a little creepy, too. Michael received an e-mail from the grocer notifying him that a product he’s bought in the past–Lender’s frozen bagels–won’t be available anymore. That’s sad, but we’re sure that he’ll muddle through somehow. “Nice to know they’re concerned about our finding products we’ve shopped for….” he writes. [More]
Sunbelt Brags About Adding More Granola Bars Per Box, Hits Said Bars With Grocery Shrink Ray
By August 17, 2012
The bane of loyal customers everywhere has struck again, and this time the Grocery Shrink Ray fixed its beady glare on reader Chuck’s favorite granola bars — Sunbelt chocolate chip. At first, he was pleased about the “new” number of bars in a bigger box. There were now 10 bars to be enjoyed instead of the previous eight. Hurray! But all was not as it seemed, as Chuck soon found out. [More]
