Shrinkflation is a thing, so much so that even President Joe Biden has a commercial about it. What’s less of a thing is watching it happen in real-time. In a now-viral video, one TikToker showed viewers a “live” example of shrinkflation unfolding by exposing how a grocery store priced two boxes of Glad trash bags the same, though one box has fewer bags.
Melissa Simonson (@realmelissasimo) is a shrinkflation buster and several videos on her page detail examples of shrinkflation. Or, as her bio says, she’s just someone who is into “marketing, ecommerce and helping others dream big.” The Daily Dot has previously covered Simonson’s efforts to help others avoid overspending by sharing how a “Buy 2 Get 2 Free” Diet Coke promotion wasn’t the great deal it seemed.
Shrinkflation is a tactic used by corporations to cut costs by shrinking products but not shrinking the price. In one of Simonson’s latest videos, she busts Glad trash bags for allegedly being one of the latest perpetrators of shrinkflation.
The video has over 577,000 views and 28,000 likes as of the publishing of this article.
“It’s rare to actually see one of these while it’s happening. You can see $10.99 for 40 tall kitchen bags, 40-count,” Simonson says, reading the price tags for Glad ForceFlex bags off a grocery store shelf. “And you see 45,” she adds, grabbing a 45-count box of unscented Glad ForceFlex kitchen bags.
“And there’s actually no price that says 45-count anymore,” Simonson continues. She takes this to mean Glad is replacing the 45-count box with the 40-count but keeping the same price.
@realmelissasimo I was shocked at how blatant it was… And then immediately saw ANOTHER! #shrinkflation #groceryshopping #corporategreed ♬ original sound – Melissa Simonson
Though Simonson shares this as an example of shrinkflation, several viewers pointed out that she was comparing two different products since the 45-count bags were unscented while the two 40-count varieties she showed were scented.
Still, several others vehemently agreed with Simonson that shrinkflation was at play.
“I love that TikTok is showing what price coordinators and grocery managers have seen for years,” one commenter said.
“I do merchandising for stores and it’s wild to see the price increases over a 6 month period and the size decreases,” another wrote. “I’ve watched it since 2021 and it’s so bad. A lot of the times people from the stores don’t bother replacing the old tags and just put the new ones over them. That’s when you truly see how bad it is.”
As President Biden stated in his Super Bowl commercial about shrinkflation, “The American public is tired of being played for suckers.” And considering the rising prices of items in grocery stores nationwide, the last thing consumers need is expensive and essential everyday products that are also shrinking in size.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Simonson via TikTok direct message and to Glad via email for comment.
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