When Tony the Tiger gets fired, we'll know biofuel mandates have taken their toll.
Correspondent Susan Koeppen said on "The Early Show" Oct. 23 consumers would be "paying more and getting less" for some food products they buy because companies are downsizing their products.
"It's called downsizing," Koeppen on the CBS broadcast. "More and more companies are going to start shrinking their products."
Ice cream consumer Yalanda Medina said she felt companies didn't think she was "smart enough to notice" she was getting less. In short, Medina felt "duped."
Koeppen went to "consumer advocate" Edgar Dworsky, who told her that downsizing is "a sneaky way to pass on a price increase."
"Most people can't see the difference between the old and the new, except when they're side by side and even sometimes when they're side by side you can't tell the difference," Dworsky said.
Dworsky has been running Consumer World since 1995. The organization is dedicated to tracking down how much products change in price.
Todd Marks of Consumer Reports told Koeppen that the cost of raw materials has gone up, which is what the companies contacted by CBS News said as well. Koeppen told viewers:
We contacted several of the companies that make the products mentioned in this story: Hershey's, Hellman's, Breyers and Kellogg's, and they all said that the rising cost of commodities has led to a change in the way they make and package some of their products. But they do point out that many of their products have not changed, but tough economic times have led to some changes.
—Paul Detrick is a research analyst at the Business & Media Institute.
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Wow, they noticed!
October 23, 2008 - 12:11 ET by Saint ZeroI caught this _years_ ago. It's been afoot for at least five to six years.
How much more stupid can CBS get?
And they said Bush 41 was
October 23, 2008 - 13:36 ET by motherbeltAnd they said Bush 41 was out-of-touch because he commented on how great superpmarket scanners were (he did NOT say he had never seen one before!).
I know I'm dating myself when I say I remember when coffee came in one-pound cans, and ice cream in half-gallons!
Coffee
October 23, 2008 - 16:03 ET by cassratYou can still get coffee in 1 pound cans or bags and icecream in 1/2 gallon containers. If you are willing to go with store brands you can get 1/2 gallon of icecream here in western Mass for 2.99 ( I got it for 1.99 last week when it went on sale. I buy coffee in large cans and stock up when the price is right.
Just for your info
In all transactions remember
October 23, 2008 - 12:20 ET by Dan The Man 2In all transactions remember this Cavet Emptor, Buyer Beware and you will do well. Or to make it a Gumpism "Stupid is as stupid does"
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
downsizing product nothing new...
October 23, 2008 - 12:27 ET by ShadowsPapaUh, where were you kids in the 70's?
When packs of chewing gum went from 5 sticks to 7 to hide the price increases? Look, you are getting MORE gum, but no one did the calculations to figure price per stick!
Other products - potato chips, etc. - same thing. We have recipes from the 60's that say use "large package...." and those recipes sort of had problems in the late 70's.
This is nuttin' new at all! I grew up with it.......
Okay, so this is relevant
October 23, 2008 - 12:32 ET by WhoIsJohnGaltnews to this website...why?
I thought this was called
October 23, 2008 - 12:38 ET by wiwfI thought this was called "being green."
The Rocky Mountain Collegian: Illustrating Idiocy
Dog Bites Man!
October 23, 2008 - 13:34 ET by CaringwhiteguyThis has been going on for years. It is a pet peeve of mine, and it should be of everyone. It truly is a slick way for manufacturers to slip price increases to consumers. And it pisses me off. When I see a manufacturer pulling this trick, I stop buying their product. Unfortunately, sooner or later all their competitors pick up on the scam too.
But really Paul, in case you haven't heard, there's an election going on.
Envy:
October 23, 2008 - 12:42 ET by CrashThe only thing green about the left.
No Brains
October 23, 2008 - 12:55 ET by JEB StewartIf these people had brains they would be dangerous
what are they now?
October 23, 2008 - 13:46 ET by mbuelSo you don't think the media is dangerous now?
Palin has accomplished great things, while Obama has continued to make empty promises that the world owes you a living.
Gee, you'd think they'd be
October 23, 2008 - 12:58 ET by mattmGee, you'd think they'd be touting the environmental consciousness of reducing wasteful packaging. Except for the fact that they hate free-market companies (other than their own).
I wonder if they would call allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire a tax increase.....
If environmentalism was a
October 23, 2008 - 13:03 ET by mostlymoderateIf environmentalism was a conservative ideology, the liberals would be opposed to it.
That's about my take on
October 23, 2008 - 13:04 ET by ThatDudeThat's about my take on it. As with the apple jacks box, it seems to be nothing more than a decrease in wasteful packaging. Who hasn't been disappointed by a bag of chips where 1/4-1/2 of the packaging actually contains product? So long as they are still required to post how much product each contains, it's your responsibility to figure out what you buy and whether or not the price has increased.
Dude, they are not just
October 23, 2008 - 15:17 ET by motherbeltDude, they are not just reducing packaging. What is being referenced here is a smaller amount of product for the same price.
I agree with you about the buyer's responsibility. But you have to admit, they are being a bit disingenuous about it. Sometimes the cereal box is just as tall, only thinner; something that you don't notice right away. Or changing the shape of the box to disguise that it holds less.
They do sometimes reduce pkg. size but that's more a function of shelf space than it is environmental awareness, since they purchase their space by the foot.
I love it that the packages
October 23, 2008 - 13:02 ET by mostlymoderateI love it that the packages cost more. I had a really bad habit of eating a LOT of Breyers and Dreyers ice cream until the shrinking packages. I have lost 15 lbs because I don't buy it anymore.
Thank you Big Brother
October 23, 2008 - 13:57 ET by mbuelThis is another law of unintended consequences.
OR... maybe this article is correct. The whole downfall was intended.
It's the same reason he plans on increasing the tax on guns by 500%, and taxing small business owners... he fully intends on destroying this country and KNOWS what he is doing. In the early debates with Hillary, the moderator told him; "Cutting taxes has increased the government revenue and the number of jobs out there."
His answer THEN was revealing. "I know that, it's about MAKING IT FAIR."
Why do you think the Stock Market continues to take a beating? They are afraid Obama will win.
Why do you think the job markets are continuing to shed jobs?
They are afraid of Obama's Tax plan which they are trying to account for now.
The plan is nothing less than the destruction of our capitalist system. Make no mistake about it.
if obama wins
October 23, 2008 - 16:22 ET by smoto66if obama wins products will really shrink along with the gdp, jobs,the only things that will grow is unemployment intrest rates the missery index welcome back carter the 70s redux
smoto66, Welcome back carter!, be will be in 0bamas cabinet
October 23, 2008 - 16:27 ET by upcountrywaterCOMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACT
IranianUranium
water
October 23, 2008 - 16:51 ET by smoto66Thats the problem he's following the same failed robin hood economic policey that carter used in the 70s. any one thats old enough to remember that disaster has to be fool to think it will work now
smoto66, Welfare is paid to entitlement folk via taxes, CRA is
October 23, 2008 - 17:25 ET by upcountrywatersocialism.
Carter's idea is BRILLIANT !! in an evil way, FORCING THE banks and private funds to "help" the entitled with free homes.
Burning down the house
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACT
IranianUranium
Carter ...
October 24, 2008 - 14:22 ET by mbuelCarter was just continuing the "progressive" tradition that started with politicians in the early 20th century.
1) Robin Hood stole from the government which stole the money from the peasants through overly high taxes. The government was the enemy in that story. A better name for those policies is marxist.
2) Government is the problem, and always has been. That's what our founding fathers were fighting against.
I am pro business, anti
October 24, 2008 - 08:19 ET by buddycI am pro business, anti regulation, conservative and I think it is fraud.
It should not be allowed. It has gone on for years along with products intentional designed to leak, fall over, spill and tear in a way to lose content. Because it is obviously intentional deception, it should be a crime.
Buddy it is not fraud,
October 24, 2008 - 08:50 ET by Dan The Man 2Buddy it is not fraud, deceptive advertising or representation perhaps but not fraud. And even on the package it tells you what you are getting. Buyer beware.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.