When Fosters-owned Cascade beer (different from regular Fosters in that it tastes decent) switched to 330ml from 375ml while charging the same price, consumers let their discontent be known in a highly visible fashion: they stopped buying it. Fosters reported a 33% drop in sales and some retailers reported up to a 50% drop. In response to the steep drop-off, Fosters is going back to 375ml, the standard size for canned beers in Australia.
grocery shrink ray
M&M's Valentine's Day "Cupid's Mix" Is 10% Lighter Than Regular M&M Packs
By 2.1.09
Do you want to lose weight for Valentine’s Day? Then M&M’s special Valentine’s Day Cupid’s Mix is just for you! Since they’re 10% lighter than M&M’s usual holiday pack, they’ll help you lose money too. More proof that M&M’s Cupid traded in his arrow for the Grocery Shrink Ray after the jump…
Ben Popken On NBC Nightly News Tonight, Still Pimping That Grocery Shrink Ray
By 1.27.09
Yours truly Ben Popken was featured ever so briefly in a NBC Nightly News report tonight about the Grocery Shrink Ray.
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Girl Scout Cookies
By 1.20.09
Sad news for lovers of the Thin Mint — you’ll be paying the same amount for fewer cookies this year.
Shylockian Shrink Ray Extracts Pound Of Flesh From Tyson Frozen Chicken Wings
By 1.2.09
BUH-KAW! Tyson’s five-pound bag of frozen chicken wings is now Tyson’s four-pound bag of frozen chicken wings.
NYT Investigates TV Shrink Ray
By 12.26.08
Is nothing sacred? The New York Times is reporting that the grocery shrink ray, that scourge of the savvy supermarket shopper, has now been turned to televisions.
Ben Popken On NBC Nightly News Rescheduled
By 12.6.08
The NBC Nightly News Grocery Shrink Ray piece I’m in that was to air last night has been pushed back. Will keep you posted as to when its next slated to air.
Ben Popken On NBC Nightly News This Thursday
By 12.2.08
Watch NBC Nightly News on Thursday, 12/04/08, for a snippet of yours truly, Ben Popken, laying down some tough talk on the good ‘ol Grocery Shrink Ray, THE STORY THAT NEVER DIES!!! MUAHAHA!
"Holistic Margin Management": What General Mills Calls Grocery Shrink Ray
By 12.2.08
Guess what they call the Grocery Shrink Ray at General Mills? “Holistic Margin Management.” I thinks that’s also what they call it in 1984. Another interesting fact from a StarTribune article looking at shrinking packages: customers are more likely to notice a change in the height rather than the width of a box. But does anyone really care?
Gorton's Wants To Know If You Noticed Anything Fishy About Their Fish Sticks
By 9.29.08
Reader Dave was doing an online survey about Gorton’s Fish Sticks packaging — and it looks like something fishy is going on…
34 Victims Of The Grocery Shrink Ray
By 9.17.08
The story may be well and established already, but that hasn’t stopped manufacturers from their food product and package shrink-a-dink rampage. Here’s 34 more victims of The Grocery Shrink Ray spotted by the all-volunteer Consumerist tipster army, 25 of which are viewable using advanced pop-up slideshow technology…
Video: The History Of Maxwell House Shrinkage
By 9.10.08
This video shows how a variety of food products have shrunk over the years, while the price remains the same, and the tricks manufacturers use so we don’t notice the differences. She stacks up the coffee cans as they go from 16 oz to 11 oz. At one point, Maxwell House says that while the size is going down, the potency is going up. “We’ve fluffed the beans!” they say. So then why do the instructions on the side of the can for the amount of coffee you use to make a perfect cup stay the same? Though we don’t really mourn for lost Maxwell House value, the example is illustrative of standard industry tactics, even on food that doesn’t taste like crap.
Get Ready For An Onslaught Of Food Advertising
By 9.8.08
Foodmakers are planning to bombard you with advertising to keep you from ditching their carefully groomed brands for some blechy cheapo generics. Pay no attention as they try to re-brand their products as cheap and affordable. Here’s a small preview of what to expect…
Want That Hot Restaurant Reservation? Ask With A European Accent
By 9.6.08
The parasitic Grocery Shrink Ray has infected restaurants, shrinking portions and spurring substitutions as restaurateurs struggle to pry revenue from cash-strapped customers. Desperate to fill seats by any means, restaurants are borrowing from the airlines and are starting to overbook reservations for peak times. They’re also giving preference to the new big spenders: Europeans.
Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Now Deodorizes For 30 Days Instead Of 3 Months
By 8.18.08
Reader Kirin says he’s suspicious of Arm & Hammer’s assertion that the same 1lb of baking soda will only deodorize for 30 days when it used to work for 3 months.
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Folgers, Makes More Cups From Less Coffee?
By 8.6.08
Here’s a fun little mystery for you guys. How can taking away 4 oz of coffee produce more cups of coffee? We’ve been thinking about it ever since Blueprint for Financial Prosperity sent us this photo the other day, and we just can’t figure it out. Could it be magic? Some strange new property of the Grocery Shrink Ray?
15 Victims Of The Grocery Shrink Ray
By 8.1.08
The Grocery Shrink Ray continues its miniature spree across the supermarket aisles of America. Here’s 14 more victims that have surfaced in the past week, as spotted by our watchful bands of deputized Consumerist reader-investigators…
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits UK
By 7.31.08
The Grocery Shrink Ray has expanded its range and is no longer just hitting the US. Pint-sized woe has befallen the the UK snack section. For one, the Dairylea triangle is shrinking from 180 to 160g per cheese wheel. Other shrunken products include Rolo, Palmolive, Olvatine, Dairy Milk, Mars bars, Yorkie chocolate bars, and Pringles.Check out the company double-talk as they tried to explain away the changes, sometimes with verbal softshoe, others with oddly pugilistic rebuttals:
