Shrinkflation is an issue we’ve reported on extensively here at the Daily Dot. It refers to the act of downsizing a product, but not its price. Shrinkflation has become such a contentious issue that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) even brought a bill called the “Shrinkflation Reduction Act” to the House back in August 2024. However, the shady business tactic has shown no signs of slowing down.
According to data by IPSOS, 46% of shoppers from across 33 countries in the past six months noticed that product sizes had shrunk while prices remained the same.
We’ve seen it happen to mozzarella sticks at H-E-B, Classico’s tomato sauce, and even a 64-pack of Crayola colored pencils. In all of these cases, TikTokers took to the app to challenge these brands. And user Isabella Cunis (@icunis) is no different.
In the 8-second video, Cunis zooms in on her Oikos yogurt pot, which includes a disclaimer reading “with room for toppings.” The TikTok was accompanied by the viral sound depicting a voice saying, “That’s suspicious. That’s weird.”
In the comments, one user said, “That’s the excuse to give you less for the same price.” Another argued, “There’s always been enough room for toppings? I’ve never had to dump put a yogurt cup to add topping.”
And Oikos didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via contact form.
@icunis I just want my yogurt !!! #thatssuspicious #yogurt #oikos #danone #hmm #hmmm #fyp #foryou ♬ original sound – datz suspicious, datz weird
Is this a new issue?
Elsewhere, a couple of commenters claimed that Oikos pots have had the same disclaimer for years. This is something that a Reddit post from 2022 confirms. Sharing a picture of the container, the Redditor highlights the “with room for toppings” note along with a post title reading: “This must be their way of saying ‘We decreased the amount but kept the container size the same.’” So, we can safely conclude that this isn’t a recent change by Oikos.
Still, this didn’t stop Redditors from calling out the disclaimer. “Ahhh, the old marketing spin to bamboozle consumers,” one wrote.
“So considerate,” another sarcastically replied.
A third Redditor seemed to be in favor of this detail, writing, “That is actually an important feature for me. I mix in cereal and fruit and prefer to use the existing container.”
This is a practice that other Yogurt brands take part in as well. According to a different Reddit post from 2019, a Dannon-branded yogurt also had the same “with room for toppings” line on it.
Ultimately, it remains unclear whether this feature of Oikos is the result of shrinkflation. But we know that it’s been around for a while.
Cunis told the Daily Dot that “whether it’s always said that and I just didn’t notice or if it’s new and they decreased the amount in each cup, I think it says a lot about corporations and the current state of shrinkflation.”
“As prices rise for everything and quality and quantity stay the same or decrease, it’s unfair to consumers and as a consumer, I don’t think the corporations care,” she said.
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