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]
Old Spice Shaves Off .25 Ounces Of Deodorant, Sells For Same Price…Or Does It?
By January 15, 2013
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]
Walmart Redesigns 5.3 Ounces Right Out Of Great Value Mashed Potato Box
By November 8, 2012
An anonymous Walmart shopper stopped by to show us how a nice-looking redesign of the mega-retailer’s house-brand mashed potato flakes masks some shrinkage. Wally World took advantage of the packaging change to shave off 5.3 ounces of dehydrated potato goodness. Of course, the box looks the same size from the outside. It’s still a great value. Just a little less great than before, perhaps. [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]
Arm & Hammer Adds 33% More Peroxide, Subtracts .3 Ounces Of Toothpaste
By October 26, 2012
The good news is that PeroxiCare toothpaste comes with slightly more peroxide than it did before. The bad news is that this supposed improvement comes with a .3 ounce reduction in the total amount of toothpaste in the tube. [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]
Angel Soft Toilet Paper Changes Packaging, Shrink Rays Content While They’re At It
By September 28, 2012
Richard spotted this change to Angel Soft toilet paper while shopping at Walmart. The package has a lovely redesign, but it also no longer brags that it contains “70% more.” Why is that? Well, they’ve shrink rayed the total square footage and number of sheets while keeping the price the same. [More]
Lowe's: Where Fuzzy Math Stings Like A Wasp
By September 13, 2012
How much bug spray does one household need? Wasp stings hurt, so it’s a good idea to stay protected. Even if buying a two-pack costs more than buying two individual cans. You know, safety. And volume pricing. Important things. [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]
Bloomberg’s Shrink Ray Hits Again: NYC Mayor Seeking Designs For Teensy Tiny Apartments
By July 10, 2012
For New Yorkers who already feel like they’re living in an expensive shoebox stacked into buildings with tons of other shoeboxes, it might come as no surprise that Mayor Mike Bloomberg is trying to downsize yet another part of city life. First it was sugary drinks, and now the mayor has launched a competition for plans to develop dozens of “micro-units.” In other words, teensy tiny apartments. [More]
