Shrinkflation Is Taking Over And We Aren’t Here For It
How many times have you eaten or used something and said to yourself, “I think there used to be more of this”. Well, we have the misfortune to report you that it’s not just a feeling. Most of your favorite products, edible or not, have actually decreased in quantity over the years. This phenomenon is called shrinkflation, combining the words shrink and inflation.
Shrinkflation is the reduction in size or quantity of a product, or sometimes even the reformulation or decrease in quality of a product, while the selling price remains the same, or sometimes even increases. Examples of shrinkflation are much more numerous and varied than you might think. Discover all the products you buy that are victims of it; this will make you mad!
1 Barilla Spaghetti
Many people love making spaghetti for a quick and easy meal. The one downside to spaghetti noodles is that you almost always end up making too much. You think that you are making just enough, then all of a sudden, you have a million noodles.
So, maybe this cutback isn’t such a bad thing. It could possibly help people to make the correct amount of spaghetti noodles. Who knows? All we know is that they went from a pound of noodles to only 410 grams and they still sell it at the same price.
2 Quality Street
Quality Street has been around since 1936. That is over 80 years of delicious toffee treats that people have come to know and love. While you might not love every flavor inside, you are still sure to find a good one, anyway.
But they keep making their tins smaller and smaller. People aren’t going to be able to find their favorite flavor now because of the cutbacks that this company has taken. What flavors are left? The nasty ones? Ugh!
3 Gatorade
Athletes everywhere have probably noticed the size difference in Gatorade bottles over the years. I mean, they continuously consume this beverage to stay hydrated, right? Of course, they would notice the bottle got smaller!
What are they supposed to do now? Settle for boring old water? That is just not good enough. Who thought it would be a good idea to deprive these people of the best-tasting beverage around? You’ve really done it this time, Gatorade.
4 Kleenex
There are always people who suffer from allergies. This means that there are a lot of sniffling noses out there, and those noses need tissues. Instead of putting a few more tissues in the box, though, to accommodate those in needs, they decided to take some out.
So, people are just going to have to continue to sneeze and have running noses because they decided to cut back on their product. Those five extra tissues would possibly have helped someone in ways that we don’t even realize.
5 Crest Toothpaste
These 2 tubes of toothpaste bought a few months apart by a Reddit user, each in a “value packs”, have a 9g-difference of toothpaste. This seems like a very, very bad idea to me. If you give people less toothpaste, does that mean they are going to brush their teeth less? Or will they use less toothpaste?
They are going to end up walking around with bad breath, and that’s just bad for everyone. Maybe people will have to switch to a different brand of toothpaste which will cause them to end of with cavities. Is that the best idea here?
6 Mars Chocolate Bar
On this picture, you can see, on the bottom, a Mars chocolate bar from 1996, and on the top, a Mars bar from today. The difference in size is impressive, don’t you think? But while the size has almost halved, the price has more than doubled since 1996!
People love their candy bars, especially the Mars ones. They just can’t get enough of it. But Mars decided to make their bars more smaller and smaller as time goes by. It seems unfair to deprive people of that much of their chocolate goodness, though, especially at the price they are sold nowadays!
7 Pringles
Even if you aren’t a Pringles lover, you still must admit this is quite disturbing. It totally feels like they are stealing from us! Those of you who are die-hard Pringles fans probably wish you could go back in time, don’t you?
Why would anyone want to pay the same price for something that is smaller than it originally was? That seems insane. It is insane! Just give us our regular-sized chips and let us be happy. Is that too much to ask for?
8 Keebler Chips Deluxe
Family-size products usually mean more products inside of the package, right? Well, that is not always the case, especially here. These Keebler cookies don’t seem like they are a family-size amount of cookies to us.
They went from being 17.21 ounces to being only 14.6 ounces. This is absurd. Nothing about downsizing these cookies is ok. Maybe people should start making these cookies themselves and then they will actually be family-size.
9 Wheat Thins
Is this what they mean when they talk about the healthy food tax? You know, how healthy foods cost significantly more than junk food does? Not that Wheat Thins are necessarily healthy, but they are healthier than junk food.
But making the product smaller just gives you fewer crackers for the same cost. Now people who tried to switch to a healthier diet are going to go back to their old ways. Are you happy with knowing that? We are not.
10 Peppermint Tea
Organic products always cost more than their counterparts. We are aware of that, and we can accept that. But instead of keeping the same great product that everyone loves, this company decided to cut back and reduce the amount of product that they sold.
Now, this does not come with a cost reduction, though, just less product for the same price. Maybe they will just have to switch to a non-organic brand instead. They will have to forgo all of their beliefs because of this one product.
11 Chobani Flip
The Chobani Flip yogurts are the perfect choice for someone who is in a rush to get somewhere but still needs to eat something for breakfast. Plus, they are just delicious. You can choose from so many different toppings to “flip” into your yogurt.
Except now, there is less product in them. That is going to mess up the topping to yogurt ratio. Not only is there less yogurt in the cup, but the toppings section is only 1/3 full. That means you have too much yogurt compared to the toppings, and that just ruins the whole thing.
12 Metropolis Coffee
Why would anyone want to spend the same amount of money only to get less coffee? This company redesigned its packaging and reduced the amount of product at the same time. Is that how redesigns are supposed to work?
That does not seem right to us. Plus, the bag with less coffee is bigger! If they had asked our opinion, we would have told them to put more coffee inside and keep it at the same price! Who doesn’t want more coffee? We know we do. We can’t get enough.
13 Pantene Conditioner
Pantene tries to trick their customers with this packaging. Did they think that no one would notice the newer, slimmer packages? Do you know who noticed it first? Every single person that has curly hair. They noticed.
The people with curly hair have to physically suffer now because of Pantene. They are now forced to walk around in public with undefined curls because Pantene decided to put less product in their conditioner tubes that contains almost 2 fluid ounces less of product.
14 Tillamook Ice Cream
Tillamook ice cream is not fooling anyone here, especially those who went through a recent heartbreak. Ice cream heals all wounds, you know. So, people who are heartbroken reach for ice cream before anything else.
Some people like a specific brand of ice cream, and they won’t settle for anything else. Does this mean that Tillamook lovers are going to boycott the brand until they bring back the original package size? Because there’s a big difference here, and for the same price!
15 Flamin Hot Doritos
Both of these bags of Doritos are the same price, but different flavors and weights. So, why are they the same price? The flavor should not matter, but the weight should. Does the nacho flavor weigh .50 ounces more than the cool ranch flavor?
We don’t think so, but Doritos didn’t ask for our opinion when they produced these bags of chips. So now, people just have to put up with the weight difference and pay the same price for both bags of chips. That’s pretty lame.
16 Simply Lemonade
Ah, good old lemonade. What is more refreshing than a cold glass on a hot day? Nothing! But Simply Lemonade is trying to deprive its customers of that feeling. That is just cruel and inhumane, don’t you agree?
Plus, what about the children who use this product for their lemonade stands? They are going to pay more money for this, so they’ll have to sell their lemonade for more. These kids are just trying to start their own business, and this company is not doing them any favors.
17 Dove Soap
Why would anyone want to buy a smaller bar of soap? Also, why would Dove produce this? Not only did they decrease the size of their bars between 2019 and 2021, but they did it again in 2022! They just progressively keep getting smaller and smaller.
At one point, people are going to start getting really angry and stop using this soap. Get ready for a lot of stinky bodies because of this cutback. People’s natural scents aren’t going to be as fresh smelling as these bars of soap.
18 All Laundry Detergent
We have some questions about this product. For starters, no one wants to pay the same price for both of these containers. An 11-load difference for the same price starts to make a major difference, especially for a large family that does several loads a week!
The larger bottle says 53 loads while the smaller one says 42 loads. This seems extremely backward to us. All this will do is force people to buy laundry detergent more often and pay much more to do their laundry, which is, in fact, a necessary need.
19 Toilet Paper
You can clearly tell that this toilet paper was produced by the same company because of the design. What we want to know is what caused them to make their toilet paper rolls so much smaller than the original. Shrinking the width of toilet paper does not do anyone any good. At all.
Who would think this would go unnoticed? People are very particular about the size of their toilet paper, so making it smaller is sure to make some people very upset. There just isn’t enough coverage there, if you know what we mean. People are going to end up getting a little bit messy. Why would they want to do that? It just doesn’t seem very sanitary, bring back the bigger roll!
20 Royal Canin
Pet owners only want to give their pets the best food on the market. Who can blame them? Their pets are basically their children, so it only makes sense. But Royal Canin only wanted to make money and didn’t consider the animals.
They went from producing 5.8 ounces of cat food to 5.1 ounces of food. It is not like cats can make food on their own. They have to rely on their owners, and now their owners have to find more food for them. Continuing to give them a simple cane will provide them with less food, and we don’t want that.
21 Bolthouse Farms Salad Dressing
This salad dressing would make me laugh hysterically if I saw it at the grocery store. Seriously, it does not make sense. The larger bottle is 14 fluid ounces and has 45 calories per serving, while the smaller bottle is 12 fluid ounces.
The smaller bottle also has 50 calories per serving. It’s the exact same product, just different-sized bottles. Shouldn’t the calories per serving be the same for both bottles? Please, someone explain this to us, because we don’t understand. Apparently, that better taste comes with 5 extra calories…
22 Paper Towels
Why would someone think that fewer paper towels are a good idea? They are literally used to clean up messes, so what happens without them? There will be never-ending messes! Sure, it’s not a big weight difference, but still. Considering the lightness of such a product, this is a significant difference.
This event happened in the same year. What happened between January and March in production? Did they just forget to add a few paper towels to the roll? Or is this their idea of cutting back? It’s not fair.
23 Folgers Classic Roast
At first glance, you wouldn’t notice anything wrong with these two containers. They look like average Folgers coffee tubs with medium roast grounds. Almost every household in America has this product, so why would there be any difference?
But if you take a closer look, you will notice that one container is 11.3 ounces while the other is 9.6 ounces. This is probably the most popular coffee brand, so there have to be some pretty upset people out there.
24 Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream
If you have ever had Häagen-Dazs, then you know it is like luxury on a spoon. It feels so glamorous to consume this ice cream. It is so creamy and decadent that you just can’t get enough. But what is not so luxurious is that they are trying to skimp out on us.
Who do they think they are? 414 milliliters is just not enough ice cream, and we think everyone can agree on that. Bring back the original size container and let us eat our ice cream in peace! Is that too much to ask for?
25 Febreze Air Fresheners
Sure, both bottles claim to be extra strong, but are they deceiving us? Are they trying to make us think that the new bottle is the exact same as the old one? Well, we will tell you, it is not the same, and it is very easy to notice.
Maybe they both have the same formula, but they definitely do not have the same amount of product. The old bottle was 800 milliliters while the new one is only 500 milliliters. That doesn’t seem the same to us at all.
26 Hoola Make Up
Maybe you aren’t a makeup junkie, but that should not stop you from getting upset over this. Are they trying to conserve resources? This product is already a mini version, which means there is not as much product to begin with.
But now, they are trying to cut corners and give us even less of the product for the same price. They just want your money! You will have to keep going back to purchase more and more until you finally give in and purchase the full-size product.
27 WD-40
WD-40 has many uses around the house. Some of its most common uses are, of course, to keep the rubber between doors soft and to loosen rusty hinges, but this product seriously comes in handy more often than you would think.
So, why would they put less product in the can while trying to make us believe that there is in fact 25ml more? People use this so often that getting a smaller can would seriously upset them. This doesn’t make any sense to us. We should say something, but they probably won’t listen.
28 Toblerone
Why would anyone want less chocolate? Seriously, everyone loves chocolate, especially Toblerone chocolate. People love to break off those large chunks and indulge. But now these chocolate lovers are going to have to settle for less.
This is just an abomination to people everywhere. What are they going to do? Buy more chocolate to make up for it? I mean, that is what I would do, but I wouldn’t be happy about having to buy two instead of one. The size difference is major, here!
29 Yorkshire Tea
Whoever designed these boxes obviously didn’t have the correct information. There can’t be an extra 50 bags in one box and an extra 50% free in the other. The 50 free bags box has 210 bags for the price of 160 bags.
The box that says it has an extra 50% free bags has 240 bags for the price of 160. They can’t do this to us without any explanation. We are upset and blame Yorkshire tea. They are trying to trick us with their tea and make us buy 30 less tea bags for the same price.
30 Ikea Utensil Holder
Utensil holders are made to keep your kitchen utensils in eye’s view while also keeping them organized and easily accessible. Utensil holders stand up on the counter, but due to recent production cutbacks, this one definitely doesn’t.
Previously, the metal holders weighed 226 grams, but Ikea decided to use less metal for the new ones. Now, these holders only weigh 121 grams and are almost impossible to keep standing up while utensils are inside of it.
31 Scent Booster
Everyone loves having fresh-smelling laundry, right? No one wants to walk around wearing smelly clothes, that is just embarrassing. So, many people choose to use scent boosters to enhance the clean smell of their clothes.
But Simply Done just simply decided to cut back on the amount of product that they produced. Their containers went from 13.2 ounces to 10 ounces. Instead of lowering the price, they just took out 3.2 ounces, but still charged the same price.
32 Darigold Creamer
Some people can’t drink their coffee without using creamer. They need their caffeine, but they don’t love the strong taste of plain black coffee. I don’t blame them; sometimes, it can be too strong to drink alone, and anyway, everyone has their own tastes.
Like many times before, this company redesigned its packaging. But when they did this, they also reduced the amount of product inside of the container. They went from 32 fluid ounces to 28 fluid ounces. Was the more beautiful bottle design a subterfuge to lead consumers’ eyes away from the quantity? Darigold didn’t fool us, though.
33 Baby Dove Body Wash
Babies have sensitive skin, and they need a good product to protect it. There are many options out there, but lots of parents decide to use Dove for their baby’s skin. But Dove decided that babies everywhere did not deserve this soap that much.
They went from a 591-milliliter container to a 389-milliliter bottle. That’s a big drop! Those poor babies. Now, their sensitive skin is going to suffer from not getting enough body wash, and parents are not going to be happy to pay more for it.
34 Chicken Taquitos
Busy parents know how difficult it is to make dinner when they are going back and forth from their kids’ after-school activities. It is almost impossible. So, they sometimes choose items like chicken taquitos that are easy to prepare.
These don’t take a lot of time to make, either. But things just got a bit more difficult—and expensive—for them. One less taquito really puts them out. Now, they will have to buy two packages to make up for that one missing taquito. Not a big difference, you might say, and that’s true. But it is a matter of principle.
35 Garlic
Everyone uses garlic. Garlic goes on everything. It is the perfect seasoning. How could anyone want less of it? Apparently, this company just assumed that people didn’t want as much of it, which is just insane to think about.
No one wants less. This company thought it would be a better idea to have a full teaspoon of garlic instead of a 1/2 teaspoon. You could’ve had 2 cloves in one teaspoon instead of just one clove in a teaspoon, but no.
36 Kellogg’s Corn Flakes
Are these corn flakes still considered to be “family size” if they are smaller than the original size? We don’t think it would be right to still put it in that category. There are 160 fewer grams of corn flakes in the new box.
So, that means someone in the family won’t get as much as someone else. That does not seem fair to us. Why couldn’t they just continue to produce the original weight of the product? What are families supposed to do now? Buy two boxes at a time?
37 Ziploc Storage Bags
There is not much to see here, except for the fact that this product is basically stealing from us. Why do companies think it is ok to charge us the same price for “new” items that actually have less product inside? And, let’s be honest, it’s the same product.
Those 4 extra Ziploc bags would have really come in handy in certain situations, but no. They stole those 4 bags from us. Now, what are we going to do? Just not store something? We can’t do that, not at all. So we’ll pay more for it. Again.
38 Nescafé Americano
The last people you should ever upset are the ones who drink coffee. Especially if they drink a lot of it every day. Have you ever seen someone before they had their morning cup of coffee? They are dangerous and should not be messed with.
Nescafé, however, decided that they would try their hand at upsetting a few of these folks, though. They cut back on the amount of product they made in these containers, but they didn’t change the price along with it.
