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]
Sunbelt Granola Bars Class Things Up, Shrink Bars Along The Way
By October 17, 2012
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]
Introducing The First Ever Warranty Shrink Ray
By August 1, 2012
We’ve seen many different variations on the Grocery Shrink Ray over the years, but somehow never anticipated this: a Warranty Shrink Ray. A sneaky tipster who works at Best Buy noticed that the same product, a Seagate hard drive for notebook computers, had a lovely redesigned box. And a few years lopped off the warranty. Much like how other products change the size of an item just a tiny bit rather than raising the price, Seagate cut back on the warranty. [More]
Researcher Unearths Proof Of Grocery Shrink Ray From 1977
By July 19, 2012
Lest you think the Grocery Shrink Ray, which reduces the size of a food product but leaves the price intact (or even makes that price increase), is a product of the Internet Age, here is evidence showing the Shrink Ray’s pernicious effects from 35 years ago. [More]
Grocery Shrink Ray Scoops Two Ounces Out Of Kellogg’s Raisin Bran
By July 10, 2012
Kellogg’s may still market its Raisin Bran as having “two scoops” of raisins, but those scoops just got a little smaller. A Raisin Bran lover who uses the name Gordon Comstock here at Consumerist noticed the difference, and was lucky enough to still have the old box sitting in his recycling bin so he could prove the difference. [More]
Grocery Shrink Ray Takes Bites Out Of Wheat Thins And Pillsbury Cake Mix
By July 3, 2012
Is it the Grocery Shrink Ray, or are companies looking out for our health? A box of Pillsbury cake mix has shrunk three ounces, but still makes the same number of (slightly smaller) cupcakes. Wheat Thins lose .9 ounces in the box, but have gained ten grams of “whole grains” per serving. Are they looking out for our health, or… nah, probably just their bottom line. [More]
Not Only Are Mike & Ike Splitting Up, But The Grocery Shrink Ray Has Them In Its Sights
By June 29, 2012
Consumerist reader Eric has a long abiding love of Mike and Ike’s candy, so he’s a little bit bummed that Mike and his pal Ike are divorcing in a recent ad campaign by the company. But why does this break-up have to also involve the unfortunate smallifying rays of the Grocery Shrink Ray? [More]
Orville Redenbacher Is The Latest Victim Of The Grocery Shrink Ray
By June 15, 2012
Popcorn, as its name implies, tends to expand when you cook it (otherwise, you’re just eating “corn”). But while Orville Redenbacher’s caramel popcorn presumably still gets larger when you pop it into the microwave, you are now getting less food for your popcorn-buying dollar. [More]
Plastic Hanger Shrink Ray Costs You 4 Cents Per Hanger
By June 5, 2012
Jeff needed some plastic hangers, and found some at Kmart that cost just a little more than he wanted to pay. But the odd thing was that the signage wasn’t quite right: the price given was for ten hangers, and the packages actually on the shelf contained eight hangers each. Okay, it’s not a big deal. And broken down, only a few cents’ difference per hanger. That doesn’t mean it isn’t annoying. [More]
Has Gatorade Been Slimmed Down By The Grocery Shrink Ray?
By June 1, 2012
For years, Gatorade drinkers have grown familiar with the hard lines of the sports drink’s 32 oz. plastic bottle. Now we’re hearing that the beverage might be shifting over to a slimmer, easier-to-grip bottle — that is also 12.5% smaller. [More]
Jennie-O Reverses Grocery Shrink Ray To Add 10% More Fat Back In To Turkey Franks
By May 31, 2012
Here we thought the grocery shrink ray only worked one way, but Jennie-O is blowing our minds with a subtle reversal of the ray, turning it into a zapper that adds 10% of the fat back in to its turkey franks. [More]
Kraft: We'd Rather You Go 23% Hungrier Than Pay A Few Cents More
By May 31, 2012
Yesterday, we showed you photographic evidence of how the Grocery Shrink Ray had zapped one reader’s Oscar Mayer Lunchables packages from 4.4 oz. to 3.3 oz. Turns out he wasn’t the only reader who was less than thrilled about the change. [More]
Lunchables Fall Victim To The Grocery Shrink Ray
By May 30, 2012
Consumerist reader Mike has been noshing on Oscar Mayer Lunchables — you know, the pre-packed meat/cheese/cracker things — for years. To him, they were a dependable way to have a quick and cheap bite to eat for lunch in the office. That is, until they felt the ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAPPPP! of the patented Grocery Shrink Ray. [More]
Morningstar Veggie Dogs Make Triumphant Return To Grocery Shelves
By May 17, 2012
I have to be honest: the last two summers have been tough. Like other vegetarians, I’ve been forced to make it through grilling season without access to the superior veggie dogs made by Morningstar Farms. They disappeared from store shelves in 2009 due, the company told sad customers, to a problem with sourcing one of the ingredients. The popular corn dogs returned last year, but the plain old hot dogs didn’t…until now. They’re back on store shelves, but are they any good? I set out on a rigorous research project, also known as “dinner.” [More]
Round Saltines Disguise Stealth Shrink Ray
By May 7, 2012
As we reported on Friday, in parts of the Northeast, Nabisco’s traditional Premium brand saltine crackers have abruptly disappeared from the shelves. Unless they want to switch to one of the several other brands of saltines, their only choices are mini crackers or the new round ones. The change also disguises a stealth Grocery Shrink Ray that reduces the total mass of crackers in a box. [More]
Has The Grocery Shrink Ray Turned Saltines Round?
By May 4, 2012
We don’t eat saltines all that often here at Consumerist HQ, but we are certainly familiar with the classic cracker’s orthogonal form. Well Nabisco is out to shake up the “stuff you crumble into your soup” market by testing a round version of its Premium brand saltine. [More]
Nabisco Zaps Triscuits With Grocery Shrink Ray
By April 24, 2012
It’s time to play Spot the Difference! Between the older Triscuit box on the left and the one on the right, Nabisco made at least four changes. It doesn’t really matter if you can find them all, since only one change matters. [More]
