DIMINISHING RETURNS

This morning as I carried my bags of groceries into my apartment, I noticed that the bags seemed much lighter than usual. The boxes, cans and paper goods that I unpacked looked the same, but something had radically changed. Yikes! I had been attacked by Shrinkflation. I don’t know the name of the economist who came up with that term, but it’s now in the vernacular.

Shrinkflation is a sneaky way of hiding the cost of everyday food, drink and paper products without actually raising the price. Consequently, hundreds of items have shrunk. So what you now purchase might meet the needs of a Lilliputian. A case in point: Charmin Toilet Paper isn’t as charming as it used to be, because the original 650 sheets per roll now only contain about half of that amount. Even the Mega Rolls don’t have as many sheets as they used to and the sheets have gotten smaller. So, if you are, “Two Sheets to the Wind,” you are probably actually only “One Sheet to the Wind,” but that’s okay because your bottle of Vodka has probably also shrunk.

Even good old General Mills has shrunk its Family Sized Boxes of cereal by almost 10%.
Consumer advocate, Edgar Dworsky told the Washington Post, “Do we raise the price knowing the consumer will grumble, or do we give them a little bit less and accomplish the same thing? It’s easier to do the latter.”

Also, the folks who shop at Walmart hoping for better deals are also getting the shaft. Walmart Great Value Paper Towels dropped from 168 sheets per roll to 120, but the price stayed the same. And, if you want to get kissed by Hersheys Dark Chocolate Kisses, you’ll get 20 ounces less of romance for the same price.

Here’s my question: If you are paying the same for less doesn’t that mean that you are really paying more? Join me on a romp down The Yellow Brick Road. There’s got to be a Wizard down there somewhere.  

OKAY! There are less Wheat Thins in the same size “Reduced Fat” box. If I dunk some into a “Reduced Fat” smaller jar of Skippy Peanut Butter,” and the price of the food that I bought stays the same, but the size of the goods in the box gets smaller, Why haven’t I lost weight?

It’s a puzzlement.

Esther Blumenfeld