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Along Life’s Way
Not By Any
Measure
By Lois E. Wilson
For at least the last ten years, I have been watching how companies are
decreasing the amount of product they put in their packaging. This
downsizing is spreading to more and more types of merchandise.
For example in a store today, a full half-gallon container of ice cream
is difficult to find. Some boxes of cereal are now much thinner and
have less inside. A few coffee brands offer 30.5 ounce tins. Whatever
happened to the two pound ones? Many liquid items are no longer sold in
pints or quarts.
More recently, I began to notice a change in the size of paper
products. Facial tissues decreased in size. Toilet paper rolls lost
width.
I call it “Mathemagic” for it is sleight of hand. They are levitating
the prices and making the products disappear.
Just a few weeks ago when looking at ads for driveway sealer, I found
the downsizing is now in products for the home. In one store’s special,
its ad clearly states 5-gallon cans. But checking the cans at the
store, the cans were labeled 4.75 gallons. The other store’s ad had a
picture which looked like a 5-gallon can, but then I read the small
print. The container size was only 4.75 gallons. That means with every
4 cans purchased, you lose a full gallon of sealer. The prices were not
reduced accordingly.
To quote a few lines from a verse of mine “Less Is More, For Whom? I
stop; I blink. My neediness shows. They chop; they shrink. Their
greediness grows. I shop; I think, don’t mess with my clothes.”
So heed this warning—compare and always read the total ad, especially
the small print. And at the store, check the product’s label before
purchasing. Make sure you are the one getting more for less.
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