Wherein I become the first to notice

[MadMike]

I think I'd rather they just be honest and jack up the price, rather than try to hide it by reducing the product. Something like that can really be annoying when you have a recipe that calls for something like "one six-ounce can of tomato paste." So what do you do when they reduce the size of the can from six ounces to five?

[Jay 2K Winger]

Quoth MadMike

I think I'd rather they just be honest and jack up the price, rather than try to hide it by reducing the product. Something like that can really be annoying when you have a recipe that calls for something like "one six-ounce can of tomato paste." So what do you do when they reduce the size of the can from six ounces to five?

You buy more tomato paste.

This is exactly why hotdogs come in packages of 10 and buns in packages of 8. They want you to by more of at least one, if not both, to balance it out.

[PepperElf]

or just buy 4 packets of hotdogs & 5 of buns.
tho to be honest i usually only get the dogs and use slices of bread instead.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Quoth Mr Hero

I tend to notice cup sizes right away.

B, C, D or DD?

[Kitten in the box]

They are reducing some sizes where I work too. For example: $3.99 for 8 oz pudding cup. Now $3.99 for a 4 oz pudding cup. Same price less volume. I always say if I pay $3.99 for something, I EXPECT to get what I paid for. No more, no less.

My co-worker who can be a jerk simply says "that's theft on your part if you decide to take what you pay for. (meaning taking 2 4 oz puding cups to equal the 8 oz they use to sell)

[ADeMartino]

This is exactly why they do it this way - so people don't notice. It's not just at restaurants, either - it's common in retail stores, too. Whenever a 'new and improved' product hits the shelves, odds are pretty good that it hasn't actually been reformulated at all - it's just a slightly smaller package.

A few years ago, Chicken In A Biscuit crackers changed their packaging, and right on the box, it claimed 'New Package - Same Great Taste!'. It baffled me - I mean, okay, you changed the package - any numbnuts can clearly see that - so why was it necessary to actually spell that out?

It wasn't till I got home with the new box and put it in the cupboard where the old box was still half-full that I realized the 'new package' was 2 oz smaller. Question answered.

[Shalom]

Ferrous sulfate drops used to come in the strength 15mg per 0.6 ml. At some point, they reformulated it so that it's now 15 mg per 1 ml. The claim is so that the dosing is easier to compute or some such rubbish; the fact is, where you used to get 83 doses per 50ml bottle, you now get 50 doses. Did they reduce the price? Did they shit. You're still getting 50ml, what are you complaining about?

Oh, and brand name Synthroid went from 100 tablet per bottle to 90. Price stayed the same.

[EricKei]

Quoth ADeMartino

Whenever a 'new and improved' product hits the shelves, odds are pretty good that it hasn't actually been reformulated at all - it's just a slightly smaller package.

But of course Have you never noticed that, when a product says "Improved", they never explicitly say who is benefiting from said "improvement"...?