Spot the fraud

[Anaxagoras]

Can you see it?

[ed]

Weight.

Damn capitalists!!!

Feel the Bern

[Rob Lister]

I listened to the podcast. Here's an 8/6oz example



a more indepth article
https://consumerist.com/2015/06/10/watk ... hrink-ray/

I do not think this raises to the level of fraud unless all examples of small products coming in over-sized boxes also count as fraud.



Let the buyer beware. The cost/oz is right there on the price tag.

but ...

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune sent a reporter out to local grocery stores and discovered that in one-third of these stores, shelf tags haven’t caught up with the actual amount of pepper in each tin. The newer versions are on the shelves, but the old sizes remain on the shelf tag.

Let the grocer beware as well.

Here's the actual whine complaint
https://consumermediallc.files.wordpres ... null-0.pdf

Federal law, however, disagrees with me.
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/c ... fr=100.100

a) A container that does not allow the consumer to fully view its contents shall be considered to be filled as to be misleading if it contains nonfunctional slack-fill. Slack-fill is the difference between the actual capacity of a container and the volume of product contained therein...

I buy the store brand (which for pepper is exactly the same) and get 8oz for what McCormick charges for 3.

[no one in particular]

It's a little different with the chips. Large air-filled and mostly empty bags are designed like that--in part--to help protect against chip breakage.

[Witness]

[Rob Lister]

More slack filling lawsuits
https://www.truthinadvertising.org/wp-c ... plaint.pdf

the product only goes up to the top of the yellow circle.



old spice also


about a dozen more on a simple search

This one is flagrant



Seems like this is all the rage.

Oh, here's the worst offender

[Anaxagoras]

Yeah I was going to mention the "non-functional slack-fill" and even post that link but Rob beat me too it.

The podcast was about class-action lawsuits and I agree that this sort of thing may be taking it too far. BUT, I do think that companies who do this should be called out.
There are people who always look at the label and check the price carefully when they go shopping, but you don't always have time for it and this difference is so subtle that someone who is in the habit of buying that particular brand likely wouldn't notice that they had changed the amount of pepper since the previous time they bought it. I mean, who remembers the exact weight of the last tin of pepper they bought?

Ed probably knows that packaging matters. Put something in a bigger package and you can get away with charging more for it. Even if the product itself is small. That's why the packages that DVDs come in are bigger than the old CD packages even though the disks are the same size. Most of it is just extra air.

[gnome]

I just accept it that marketers will try to fool you with the packaging, hide price increases, manipulate you, etc. The cure is for everyone to know how to read the labels properly (and to know how they manipulate those too, such as with serving size).

[Rob Lister]

i just returned from harris teeter. i was tasked with getting the necessary taco night supplies. i checked the spice isle and sure as shit there was that very 3oz can of mccormick pepper marked as 4oz. it was right beside the store brand 4oz in the identical size can.

I thought of taking a pic of it but i didn't care enough.

[Anaxagoras]

i just returned from harris teeter. i was tasked with getting the necessary taco night supplies. i checked the spice isle and sure as shit there was that very 3oz can of mccormick pepper marked as 4oz. it was right beside the store brand 4oz in the identical size can.

I thought of taking a pic of it but i didn't care enough.

You mean the label on the shelf where it was placed didn't match the weight printed on the can?

The one that tells you the unit price per ounce or whatever so you can compare with other brands or other size containers?

[Rob Lister]

i just returned from harris teeter. i was tasked with getting the necessary taco night supplies. i checked the spice isle and sure as shit there was that very 3oz can of mccormick pepper marked as 4oz. it was right beside the store brand 4oz in the identical size can.

I thought of taking a pic of it but i didn't care enough.

You mean the label on the shelf where it was placed didn't match the weight printed on the can?

The one that tells you the unit price per ounce or whatever so you can compare with other brands or other size containers?

That would be the one.

[hammegk]

Today's graduates can't read anyway.

[Doctor X]

--J.D.

[hammegk]

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u264 ... 0bc114.jpg


Tag.

[Doctor X]

--J.D.

[hammegk]

Tag.

[Doctor X]

--J.D.

[hammegk]

Tag

[Doctor X]

--J.D.

[Rob Lister]

(Newser) – Hell hath no fury like a sweet tooth scorned. Consumerist reports a Missouri man disappointed with the amount of candy in his boxes of Reese's Pieces and Whoppers is suing Hershey's. According to KCUR, Robert Bratton bought a number of boxes of each candy at a grocery store in Columbia for $1 each. But he says he would have been less likely to spend that money if he knew how under-filled the boxes would be. Bratton's lawsuit claims the boxes of Reese's Pieces were under-filled by about 29% and the boxes of Whoppers by about 41%. His lawsuit argues shoppers are being misled.

But Hershey's counters that customers are "well aware" of the concept of "slack fill," by which packages contain some empty space either due to settling or to protect their contents. Besides, the company argues, the total weight and number of candies is printed on each box. Finally, Hershey's says the empty space shouldn't be a surprise to customers as the boxes rattle when picked up. A judge denied Hershey's motion to dismiss the case this week but also deferred on Bratton's desire to turn it into a class-action suit, the Kansas City Business Journal reports. It remains to be seen how much slack fill is too much slack fill, legally speaking, when it comes to our favorite candies.

I hope it goes to trial as a class action and a 100 million dollar verdict is returned.

[Rob Lister]

It's sold by weight which is clearly marked.

It's a bullshit lawsuit.

Federal law disagrees.

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ ... fr=100.100

a) A container that does not allow the consumer to fully view its contents shall be considered to be filled as to be misleading if it contains nonfunctional slack-fill. Slack-fill is the difference between the actual capacity of a container and the volume of product contained therein...

In both cases presented there is significant non-functional slack-fill.

So there.

[shemp]

(Newser) – Hell hath no fury like a sweet tooth scorned. Consumerist reports a Missouri man disappointed with the amount of candy in his boxes of Reese's Pieces and Whoppers is suing Hershey's. According to KCUR, Robert Bratton bought a number of boxes of each candy at a grocery store in Columbia for $1 each. But he says he would have been less likely to spend that money if he knew how under-filled the boxes would be. Bratton's lawsuit claims the boxes of Reese's Pieces were under-filled by about 29% and the boxes of Whoppers by about 41%. His lawsuit argues shoppers are being misled.

But Hershey's counters that customers are "well aware" of the concept of "slack fill," by which packages contain some empty space either due to settling or to protect their contents. Besides, the company argues, the total weight and number of candies is printed on each box. Finally, Hershey's says the empty space shouldn't be a surprise to customers as the boxes rattle when picked up. A judge denied Hershey's motion to dismiss the case this week but also deferred on Bratton's desire to turn it into a class-action suit, the Kansas City Business Journal reports. It remains to be seen how much slack fill is too much slack fill, legally speaking, when it comes to our favorite candies.

I hope it goes to trial as a class action and a 100 million dollar verdict is returned.

Lawyers get $90 million and 10 million people get a $1 coupon.

But you knew that, you fucking shyster.

[Rob Lister]

as long as it costs Hershey $100 million, I'm good with that.

[ed]

Oh, here's the worst offender

[shemp]

as long as it costs Hershey $100 million, I'm good with that.

A socialist, eh?

And hates America!