This Has To Stop Now! Shrinking toilet paper

[joeekaitis]

It started with namby-pamby ice-cream eating wusses . . .

. . . who said nary a word when "premium" ice cream brands shrank from a half-gallon to 1.75 quarts to 1.5 quarts to, mark my word, eventually a quart for the same price. Then it spread like a cancer to every shape and price-point: round, blocks, oblong tubs, supermarket house brands, drug store chain brands and generics alike.

The right response at the time: a boycott of every brand no longer sold in half-gallons until whole warehouses of the stuff were on the verge of unmarketable spoilage. But it's too late now for ice cream. Other makers of consumer products were watching and marveled at how easy it was to hoodwink these spineless American consumers.

Now, when Jimmy Dean shrank their sausage chub from a pound to 12 ounces, there was a right and proper uprising, and that's why nearly every brand of bulk sausage is still sold in 1-pound chubs.

 

[dustin92]

It's happening to laundry detergents too! Have found some of the "super extra concentrated 25x" products that claim to be "improved and extra concentrated" are truly the same product with different instructions. I recently bought a bottle of Arm & Hammer liquid detergent thqt claimed to wash 100 loads... Ok sure. I read the instructions and it showed "for medium loads use to line 1- which was maybe 1/8 of a cap- for larger or heavily soiled loads or energy saving cold water settings use a full cap... The bottle was maybe 1/2 a gallon. Under the "100 loads" it said "medium loads". Lovely. I use maybe 3/4 of a cap and get the same scent, and same clean as before the bottle shrunk... Of course most people I know of don't read the instructions on every bottle of detergent- just add a capful or whatever and go. The bottle will never was 100 loads but they can claim it to.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Hello, what's this about Jimmy Dean and a chubbie? That would be almost as bad as what Louis mentioned about the scat humor in selling TP: things like, "We all go. Why not enjoy the go?" Excuse me, I like a good dirty joke more than most, but something about that advertising on TV coming from bears who are supposed to do it in the woods just seems wrong.

 

[mich]

Dustin..

I'm gonna assume your using the new Arm & Hammer 4x concertated detergent. Word to the wise, if you look well enough, most Wal-Mart's still carry the 2X ultra Concentrated, which is 32 loads based off half the cap.

While your there, look at how All, packages there small & mighty. It has a clear, easy to read cap, so you get all the 32 loads it promises, plus imo it's a great way to show how a 3x or 4x concentrated detergent should look..

More interesting to talk about, is P&G's testing of 3x & 4x concentrated Tide Liquid offerings Some with No Enzymes whatsoever.

 

[frigilux]

KOCH products: Once again, I'm pleased to report I don't buy any of those brands. Have been unknowingly boycotting them for years, LOL.

 

[dustin92]

I'm not at home, so I'm not sure if it is 2x or 4x, but my point is that it's the same product regardless. I have seen the All 4x, and used it for a bit when it first came out several years ago. It seemed like a pretty generic detergent, but it was actually concentrated, and one capful did get a load clean. I highly doubt that would be the case with the Arm & Hammer. I know Arm & Hammer isn't a highly favored detergent, but I have had good results from it, it has a clean scent, and is relatively inexpensive. It generally does what we need from a detergent and tends to be on my list of "good" detergents, in about the same category as Era liquid and Bold powder.

 

[whirlcool]

I don't think I understand the gasoline boycott. Are you saying that Koch owns Union 76, Chevron, Phillips and Conoco?

 

[NYCWriter]

Boycotts don't work ...

... in today's economy.

Maybe 20 or 30 years ago they did, but they just don't anymore because companies have simply become way too big for even a concerted effort by thousands of consumers to make even the slightest blip in revenue.

And frankly, you'd have to get literally MILLIONS of consumers on board for any succesful boycott of a particular item or company for a prolonged period (months to a year). And you know what? Most consumers are just too damn busy these days to bother. They want their ice cream and quilted toilet paper, and barring an abusive price hike (triple or more), they're going to pay it because frankly most consumers don't even notice the price difference anyway.

 

[combo52]

Boycotts Don't Work In Today's Economy

BULL S..T, Just look at how fast Brillia Pasta and Chickfillay restaurants just to name too responded when a boycott was threatened, I will not even get started, but with the internet a company can be ruined in weeks, boycotts are more effective than ever.

 

[launderess]

Head of Barilla Pasta

Issued a statement making is position clearer and going on to say he "respected" "gay marriage", but nothing addressed seeing gay couples/families in future Barilla adverts.

Similarly Chic-Fil-A has issued various "clarifications" in it's various messages in respect to gay marriage, but do not think they have reversed position and come out in support. They are however on a major expansion binge with two new restaurants set to open in Minnesota alone.

 

[NYCWriter]

They may "respond" ...

... but it's just lip service.

They never change course, because they simply don't have to.

 

[NYCWriter]

And frankly ...

... as a gay man, if I were Guido Barilla, I would probably handle the situation the same way he did.

Why?

Because I'm not in the business of social engineering. I'm in the business of selling pasta. Like it or not, gay marriage and gay coupling are still largely viewed as controversial, and it's just plain bad business to make any kind of political statement that has nothing to do with your core business.

If showing a gay couple on my commercials or sales material would offend a sizeable chunk of my customer base (which pushing such a liberal agenda -- progressive as it may be -- would surely do), it's a no-brainer to avoid doing such a thing.

Barilla did not set out to make a statement. He was cornered into it -- baited -- when asked why he didn't have a gay couple in his ads. He responded on Italian radio truthfully: "For us the concept of the sacred family remains one of the basic values of the company... I would not do it, but not out of a lack of respect for homosexuals who have the right to do what they want without bothering others… [but] I don't see things like they do and I think the family that we speak to is a classic family."

I'm not seeing this as an "anti-gay" stance, or an "attack" on gays. The man is entitled to his opinion, as is everyone else.

And when asked how his gay clientele might react to his position (which he was unfairly baited into sharing), he added truthfully: "Well, if they like our pasta and our message, they will eat it; if they don't like it and they don't like what we say they will… eat another."

And again, the right response. Why? Because he's a BUSINESSMAN, and he knows his audience.

He's selling pasta. He's not re-engineering the world's social fabric.

Don't like it? Don't buy his pasta. But spare the rest of us the sanctimonious indignation. There are more important things in the world to focus your energy on.

 

[frigilux]

Downsizing rears its (ever-shrinking) ugly head at Apple:

My sister's new iPad is substantially smaller than mine. This is absolutely unacceptable! Will pen a furious, spittle-covered letter to Tim Cook as soon as I finish this delicious cup of chamomile tea. [this post was last edited: 10/7/2013-06:49]