CORPORATE AMERICA IS JUST AS BAD AS GOVERNMENT

I live in a nice, small town in northern California.  You would think, living out in the sticks like this, that we would be immune to the crap going on in our government and the economy, but we're not.  The jobless rate here is well over 25% and several small shops have gone out of business.  But, that's not all.  

We have discovered that corporate America is just as bad as our government has been as far as being responsive to consumers and citizens.  Just like their cousins in Washington, they are doing things to us and against us and not telling us.  Imagine my surprise to wake up one day and discover that Northern Tissue is half an inch more narrow than it was the day before.  Where on the package does it say that? 

Scott Tissue, still with 1,000 sheets, now has 9.4 square feet less total tissue than it did before.  That means they either also made it more narrow or they made the individual sheets shorter.  Where on the package does it say that?  

The list of consumer goods that has downsized is almost endless.  Orange juice has fewer ounces per container.  Cheese packages have fewer slices.  Dish soap has fewer ounces but the same sized container.  Everything from hot dogs to body lotion has been affected.  But, where on the packages does it say that?  

Well, one thing is the same... the price.  Yes, you still get to pay $1.25 for the dish soap, it's just that the soap container now has 30 ounces instead of 32.  Well, yes, that does mean that the price per ounce went up, but where on the price label does it say that?  They are flat out hiding the fact that they are charging you more; for example, if you use 100 rolls of toilet tissue per year and the size is now 9% less, next year you will need 109 rolls to do the same job or you're going to lose a lot of friends.  

The companies that have been challenged about this practice virtually all say the same thing: if they packaged the same amount in the package, they would have to raise the price of the merchandise because your friendly government has kicked off inflation.  By reducing the amount of contents, they say with tongues in cheek, they don't have to raise prices.  You'd think they were selling Obamacare. 

Check out the sizes and the price per unit the next time you go to the store.  This is deceptive advertising and packaging, pure and simple, and corporate America needs to hear our displeasure load and clear.  Give them a call, but be prepared to go through the electronic answering machines and to be on hold for half-an-hour before you get to speak with the Indonesian customer service rep.