I bought cat food today. I have been giving my kitties Science Diet Sensitive Stomach formula dry cat food for at least the last dozen years. I buy a large bag, which I put into a pour-top plastic jug (I think it’s actually a cereal canister) and the rest goes into a plastic bin. When I began buying this brand, I would even have another jug-full or so left in the bag. I would guess the bag contained about 20 pounds of food.
The food is expensive – like $40 – so I pay attention to how much pours out of the bag. I was pretty ticked a couple of years ago when the bag size shrunk to 17.5 pounds. Imagine my surprise today when the bag didn’t fill the jug and the bin. Sorry. Only 15.5 pounds now. But it’s “NEW!”
I call bullshit on that one. I’m sorry, Science Diet marketing department, but it takes more than a tiny banner to get me past the fact you are charging me more, for less.
Yes, I know this is happening everywhere. And I hate it everywhere. Prices go up. We get that. (We buy gas.) But why try to trick me? That’s what’s happening. No cereal box has a banner saying, “LESS VOLUME! SAME PRICE!” No. They just put a smaller amount of cereal in the same box.
Does anyone else hate this? Does anyone else think we – the consumers – are getting the shaft? Does anyone else want to stand up and fight with me? Probably not.
We’re all afraid the oil companies will start selling us a 100-ounce gallon.
From Pizza to Politics 