New and Improved means Smaller and Just as Expensive

Once again the evidence is clear.  Some ad executive somewhere has decided that "new and improved" is a fantastic cover story for smaller, but not less expensive.  I have written about this before, but I have to make the case again.  I have to rant and rage because it really bother's me.   We let it happen to potato chips (remember the two separate bags in a big bag of chips?) and we can't let it happen again.

Maybe it is too late.  Maybe we are destined for a shrinking world rather than a higher priced world.  Maybe, because we balked at the higher price we took comfort in the same price for less.



What started this rant was my body wash.  I noticed the size discrepancy while taking my shower.  Not the most pleasant way to wake up I can assure you.   They couldn't even reduce it by a round number...causing me to do math before I had my coffee.  If that isn't disrespectful, I don't know what is.

 

New and Improved--and 89millitres smaller!

Before we become too complacent, we should consider the ramifications for this.  Do you really want to buy hotdogs in a five pack?  We already have the inconsistent 8 pack of hotdogs and the six pack of buns.  Do you want to smaller ketchup bottles?  We had them when I was young--they were glass mind you, and I kind of miss them now.  Could you drink a 150 millilitre box of chocolate milk?

I was looking at the remastered box set of Star Trek the Original series today.  In that first season they shot 29 episodes.  That's right, 29.  Let that number sink in.  Now 22 or 23 seems to be the norm (and I am not even thinking about those 8 or 12 episode seasons which HBO seams to favour).  Of course, prior to that it was not uncommon to have 36 episode seasons.

Why is it that the things I want to become smaller never seem to.  I wouldn't mind smaller commercial breaks.  I certainly wouldn't say no to shorter speeches by politicians.  Shorter acceptance speeches for award winners or beauty contestants is a must-- this might have saved a certain Miss Teen USA some embarrassment.  Pre-game shows are longer than the games themselves.

Can I blame shrinking products for all this?  No.  All of these things are symptoms, not the cause.  The cause was the desire to make money at the expense of the customer.  The only problem is that I am one of the customers.  I don't like it.  I am going to keep calling them out until they listen.