The spiking cost of living and rising prices have not spared anyone, including the endearing Cookie Monster, who aired his concerns about the decreasing size of the cookies he adores.
"I detest shrinkflation! My cookies are getting smaller," lamented the wooly-haired, blue-skinned creature from Sesame Street on the social platform X, previously known as Twitter. He pondered, "It appears I'll have to consume twice as many cookies!"
The post attracted numerous reactions on X and surpassed 2 million views, managing to pull in attention, including that from the White House, to a topic that's been the conversation piece for the past few months.
The White House commented on Cookie Monster's post on X: "C points to consumers being unfairly targeted."
"President Biden urges companies to put an end to shrinkflation," the White House further added.
But what does shrinkflation mean, and why is it a cause of worry for many?
Shrinkflation refers to a tactic that corporations employ, which involves downsizing the quantity of their products but maintaining the same price point, giving a boost to their profit margin. This can mask inflation, which results from an increase in the price per unit of weight or volume.
Concerns mount when corporations persist with this approach even after inflation rates have cooled and input costs have decreased. This then metamorphoses into a phenomenon colloquially referred to as "greedflation".
This economic occurrence stirred President Joe Biden to label this strategy as a "rip-off." Just a week prior, he had issued a plea to snack producers to halt this practice, in anticipation of Super Bowl Sunday.
"The Sports drink bottles are becoming smaller, and a chips bag has fewer chips, yet they're billing the same amount," Biden disclosed on X.
"He emphasized, "The American public is weary of being taken advantage of."
According to a report published in December by Pennsylvania senator Bob Casey, who has been leading the charge against shrinkflation, household paper products, including toilet paper and paper towels, were 34.9 percent pricier per unit than in January 2019. The report attributed 10.3 percent of this increase to producers compacting roll and package sizes.
For instance, the family-size pack of Nabisco's Wheat Thins had its size reduced by 12 percent to 14 oz in October 2023, down from 16 oz in January 2019, without any change in the price. The report cited a 6 percent reduction in Double Stuff Oreos size, and a 12 percent drop in the volume of Gatorade drink during the same period.
Other instances mentioned in the report include the reduction in the number of tissues in a Kleenex box from 65 to 60 and Walmart lowering the number of two-ply paper towels in a pack from 168 to 120.
In February, Casey, a Democratic senator, rolled out a bill to combat the shrinkflation of grocery items.
Shrinkflation has become a focal point in the election year, with Democrats exerting efforts to combat this occurrence, while Republicans lambast the Biden administration's economic policies for propelling it.
