Corporate greed has taken over once again. In the age of overconsumption and excessive lifestyles, companies have devised a devious scheme to extract more money from their consumers: selling more air than actual products. This phenomenon, known as shrinkflation, is a form of corporate greed that involves companies reducing the size of their items while maintaining or even increasing their prices. This is done in a way that makes it undetectable to consumers, like deepening the depth of a soda can, putting empty spaces in packages and adding thumb grips to their items. Shrinkflation has not only exacerbated the overconsumption culture we have adopted, constantly making us feel that what we buy is never enough; it also puts a heavier strain on our finances in the face of rampant inflation while worsening our impact on the environment. As regular consumers bear the brunt of financial woes, the companies indulging in these practices continue to profit exponentially through deceit.
I remember buying a bag of Doritos five years ago that filled at least half of the bag. Now, the bag of Doritos I ate a week ago was mostly filled with air (even more so than normal), and the actual Doritos were much smaller than they previously were. Not only did I spend more on my Doritos last week, but I also received much less than I had received five years ago.
Numerous people have voiced their irritation and disappointment toward said companies employing shrinkflation and have created a Reddit thread that documents the ludicrous downsizing of the products they consume, showing how ubiquitous this phenomenon is. One Redditor shared how McDonald’s fries dramatically decreased in size, while another shared a photo of a bag of chips that was barely filled at all, with both of these posts being shared within the last week.
For some, this can be easily dismissed by saying, “This is annoying, but who cares?” or “Yeah, I hate that they decreased, but what can we do?” We constantly complain about shrinkflation, yet in a way, it has become normalized. My friends and I always talk about the absurd downsizing of products we consume but because of how prevalent it is, we have, in a way, turned a blind eye.
While the changes are small and nearly unnoticeable, this corporate greed should not go by without an uproar coming from the people. By employing these practices, companies treat us like dunderheads who cannot discern a downsize in the quality or quantity of the products we consume through their oblique ways of concealing them. When people simply go along with these acts, it allows corporations to gaslight and scam us with their false advertising and shrinkflation tactics.
Ultimately, shrinkflation places a heavier burden on our finances. Most of the population are already hampered by monthly rent payments and living life paycheck-to-paycheck. Paying more money for products that are already highly priced while their quantity and quality are actively degrading is something that we cannot stand for. Additionally, shrinkflation presents adverse effects on the environment, as the more we are compelled to buy, the more waste and garbage we generate. With higher demands comes increased transportation of goods, bolstering carbon emissions. Companies also use more packaging to employ their devious tactics, thus leading to more plastic production that pervasively remains on the fringes of the earth.
Shrinkflation is a phenomenon that will be relentlessly perpetuated by corporate greed as inflation keeps its chokehold on our economy. It is an unethical and dishonest way for companies to profit from our needs. With the heightened overconsumption that has dictated our behaviors, companies will further deploy their shrinkflation tactics in ways that may become completely unnoticeable and unimaginable for us.
If this practice continues, the Doritos that used to be the size of a finger may shrink to the size of an M&M in a couple of years. That is not something anyone would want to witness — not just in a bag of Doritos but in every product we are bound to consume.
