ING

Three readers contacted the writer recently to complain about the shrinkage of Protex bars of soap from 200g to 175g.

Consumers don’t take kindly to the discovery that a product they regularly buy has been “downsized” – ever so slightly, in the apparent hope that they won’t notice.

In other words, less product for your money.

Consumers generally regard this as sneaky.

But the bottom line benefits are apparently worth the ripple of consumer discontent – and the massive costs of downsizing and repackaging products – because the trend continues unabated, both here and abroad.

Three readers contacted me recently to complain about the shrinkage of Protex bars of soap from 200g to 175g.

“We are being shortchanged,” wrote Bunny Govender.

“I think we should be made aware of this in the same way as the manufacturers promote ‘100g free’ or whatever – in bold print on the packaging.”

Good point, but I doubt any marketing exec would sign off packaging that screams “Now 25g less!”

Charles Te Water wrote: “Pick n Pay is selling the 175g Protex soap at R3.50 more than the price of the old 200g pack.

Duncan Baker noted that the reduction in weight had been achieved by creating “a cut-out” in the original bar’s shape.

“We are just a smidgeon away from having a huge piece of cardboard inserted in the packaging of a chocolate bar, with a minuscule piece of chocolate on top.

“No doubt this will be described as something the customer wanted to protect the product against damage,” he said.

I asked Colgate-Palmolive’s legal director, Seneca Veeran, why the soap bar had been made smaller, rather than putting up the price of the 200g bar in a transparent way.

Responding, Veeran said the company had last year decided to make Protex bars “more affordable” to consumers, hence they reduced the size of the bars.

“This year, manufacturers’ costs in the bar soap category have risen significantly due to the currency devaluation and much higher prices for raw materials, and we raised the list price to the retail trade to account for these higher costs,” she said.

Be warned, “more affordable” doesn’t mean a better or cheaper buy. It means you’re paying less and getting less for your money.

One wonders how much products will continue to shrink in order to appear “more affordable”.