Joe Biden criticises snack makers for ‘shrinkflation rip-off’
Joe Biden criticises snack makers for ‘shrinkflation rip-off’
US president tells big brands ‘the public is tired of being played for suckers’ in video to mark Super Bowl
Article mentions nothing with regards to holding corporations accountable nor any plan or threat of action on the president’s part.
56These kinds of comments frustrate me... They fundamentally conflate the presidency with a more king-like position.
The system is setup against him doing anything other than speaking out about the issue and trying to motivate others to do something about it. The president ultimately has little power ... it's more of a oversight/cheer leading position (with some extended powers over the years to deal with imminent issues -- e.g., authorize short term military operations, which is still scary in the wrong hands) while congress is the office workers that are supposed to actually get the law writing done.
Unfortunately, we've had roughly a decade of Republican lead stagnation due to slim majority Democrat representation or outright majority Republican representation -- the Republican platform is after all the "do nothing because more government is bad" platform.
He's doing exactly what he should be doing, using the office to call people out and bring attention to issues/start conversations. That can result in brands either going "... lets make a voluntary change to get the heat off" or the public going "yeah that's a good point calls congressional rep to complain."
28Well put!
The president ultimately has little power … it’s more of a oversight/cheer leading position
And let me emphasize this is a good thing, even if the previous officeholder ignored legal restrictions on his power
8
What are you suggesting he do about it?
edit for the knee-jerk downvoters: Everything the government is authorized to do is codified in federal statute, including agency powers. If Congress doesn't give an agency the power to regulate the size and shape of a peanut butter cup, the agency cannot regulate the size and shape of a peanut butter cup, full stop. The reason the President isn't proposing a fix to this is that Congress hasn't given anyone the authority to fix this problem. The FDA can sorta kinda regulate slack fill (i.e. the empty space in your bag of chips) but only if it's non-functional or deceptive. Shrinkflation is quite legal, so long as the size/weight of the product is clearly labeled. If companies get away with it, that's because we're stupid, clueless consumers who never read labels. And they will continue to do it until a) we stop buying their product, or b) Congress passes a law to make it illegal. Unless that happens, we're stuck with it because the President is not an all powerful god who can will things into existence.
Once again, civic literacy in this county proves profoundly lacking.
13Make it expensive to change the weight of a product. Standardize the size and weight of a given type of product. Require the packaging to alert consumers that the weight have changed in the last year and how much it has changed. Tie the trademark of a given product to a certain weight.
Are these good ideas? I don't know, I literally made them up just now while shitting. I am sure the president of the United States could hire at least one dude to come up with better ones.
19What are you suggesting he do about it?
Oh don’t expect an answer from that OP. They’re here to blame Biden. It doesn’t matter if there’s anything he can actually do about the issue.
0
It's all about lip service. Neither party really gives a shit about the American public.
1Of course it doesn't. They probably don't have any actual plan to enforce laws. 🤦
I can't wait until I become High Galactic Overlord of this planet so I can boot those motherfuckers off of a cliff.
-4Talking a big game and then not doing anything? You have stumbled onto the secret plan of
Joe BidenDemocratspoliticiansHomo sapiens.-9Yeah like Democrats trying to give out free school lunches to children, and then the Republicans just saying no.
It must be "homo sapiens".
22
If politicians were serious in their criticism they would vote for laws forcing comparison price to be displayed next to the purchase price.
28Require that $/oz is always displayed in equal size as the per package price.
9That's what I meant with "comparison price".
2
Or just enforce price controls
6
My opinion is regulate it so any shrinking has to be marked in large bold caps lettering NOW X% SMALLER for at least 1 year. Then people might actually stop buying shrunken goods and opt for a competitor.
25That won’t solve ingredient swaps.
7It'd be better than nothing, though
5
Oh, I'm still offering the old size product. It's just less efficient and profitable than our completely new, slightly smaller size.
0
Stop! Or I'll say stop again!
16Did he say anything about actually doing something about it? Some-sort of shrinkflation law or something?
10I'm happy to just see him talking about anything other than green line go up.
2
I was talking to a friend recently and mentioned that Lil Debbie Fudge Rounds used to be the same diameter as the "Double Decker" ones.
Now they're smaller than the diameter of an air hockey puck. And don't even get me started on how regular Oreo Cookies used to look like the double stuff Oreos. The gall to cut the product in half, add the other half back to it, then charge more and have the balls to call it "double..."
10Only snacks?
8Thanks for asking the obvious, Captain Obvious!
-4
I wouldn't mind a reduction in plastic packaging if I could get a few more snacks.
6At what point during the shrink does the packaging cost more than the single serving of potatoe chip fumes?
590% of the snacks I buy are the store brand. Particularly, Walmart since it's the cheapest place to get foodstuffs here. So far, while all the big names have visibility shrunk in size and value, the store brands have remained the same while just continuing to grow in value compared to the other brands that are giving you less for more.
5I basically reduced my snack intake by about 75%. It is almost to expensive to snack now.
5As President should do something about the tiny size of Pringles in Australia, which are a sad shadow of their former glory now.
4I think having less potato chips in a package is probably good for the American people. However, having another year of Mahomes commercials is not.
-6Nothing to do with less chips, everything to do with same price. Put less chips if you need, reduce price accordingly.
3Oh, did they show another Knuckles show ad during the Super Bowl? I didn't watch it.
2