A man’s kind gesture for his wife’s birthday ended with a shocking surprise. Not only did he get her the same Hallmark birthday card two years in a row, but this year’s card is smaller. It also costs more.
In a TikTok with over 638,000 views as of Sunday morning, TikToker Katie Ann (@katieturnner) breaks down the scenario.
“I don’t know what’s worse—my dad getting my mom the same birthday card two years in a row or Hallmark shrinking the card and raising the price?” the text on the first photo reads.
The next photo shows the two cards next to each other, labeled “last year” and “this year,” with “this year’s” card being noticeably smaller than the previous year’s.
Katie Ann then shows the prices on the backs of the cards. Last year’s card is marked as $6.59 while this year’s card has a raised price of $6.99.
The last photo slide is of Katie Ann’s father with an attributed quote: “It was a year ago how am I supposed to remember?”
Rise of shrinkflation
In the comments section, users defended Katie Ann’s father and shared their own frustrations around inflation.
“At least he’s consistent,” one viewer quipped.
“I work at Hallmark and we are in a shrinking card epidemic right now y’all, they need to stop,” shared another user.
“I bought a card at Target a couple weeks ago and didn’t realize until I looked at my receipt that it was TEN DOLLARS…like how?!” came another comment.
“In his defense I wouldn’t remember either,” one user began, adding a laughing face emoji, “the shrinkflation is wild though.”
‘So y’all don’t buy your cards at dollar tree?” another asked.
“Shrinkflation on a piece of paper is crazy,” another viewer simply wrote.
What is ‘shrinkflation?’
Shrinkflation refers to companies downsizing their products but maintaining the same price or even raising it. The practice has occurred across industries in the form of slimmer containers, smaller bottles, and fewer quantities of a product. Companies seek to drive higher profits while consumers effectively pay more for less.
The Daily Dot has previously reported on shrinkflation, including a woman who noticed her Tropicana Apple Juice bottle was now smaller yet cost the same, a woman who claims Tampax tampons had shrunk in size, and TikTok food critic Keith Lee lamenting smaller Chipotle food portions.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Katie Ann via email and Hallmark via email for more information.
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