“Shrinkflation” refers to the idea that, over time, the actual amount of product you get with an item goes down, while the price stays the same or increases.
As grocery prices increase, numerous examples of shrinkflation have gone viral in the past year. For example, one man noted that his snack-sized bag of Doritos only had five chips in it. Another showed a bag of Late July tortilla chips that appeared to contain just a handful of chips. A further user noted that Kraft has significantly reduced the size of their macaroni and Cheese while keeping the size of the box the same.
Now, another user has gone viral after sharing her own experience with what could be considered shrinkflation.
In a video with over 1.4 million views as of Sunday, TikTok user Deliza (@miiilllksteak) shows a container of Favorite Day brand sprinkles. Favorite Day is a label owned by Target.
“Who is regulating these sprinkles?” she asks in the video. “Because they’re all kind of full, but then…you turn them over—and look at this.”
Deliza then flips over the container. After she does this, one can see that each section of the sprinkle container has varying levels of sprinkles. None of them appear full.
“There’s not even none of these glitter ones,” she says. “This is, like, empty.”
In the comments section, users shared their dismay at this discovery.
“And it’s one thing to be half empty but they’re not all the same level either?” questioned a user.
“I would’ve never thought to check,” stated another.
“The extra plastic packing costs more than filling it to the top with sprinkles. Makes no sense,” detailed a third.
“Packaging like this is so wasteful to, so much extra plastic that is not needed,” wrote a further TikToker.
@miiilllksteak @target honestly…. #inflation #sprinkles #capitalism #shrinkflation ♬ original sound – milksteakart
Some in the comments countered that this issue could be avoided if one simply looked at the weight of the product rather than the visual appearance of the sprinkles.
“This is why people need to read ounces and not care about container size,” said a commenter.
“But it’s measured in ounces so you know what you’re getting,” shared a second.
However, Deliza noted in a comment that “the two in this video were at completely different levels.” She posted a follow-up video showing just how few sprinkles one gets for their purchase.
@miiilllksteak @target sprinkle questions answered, target count your days #inflation #sprinkles #capitalism #shrinkflation #targethaul ♬ original sound – milksteakart
“Ladies and gentleman, Target got us again,” she declared in the video.
The Daily Dot reached out to Target and Deliza via email.
