Shrinkflation: When Everything (Except Price) Drops
We’ve all felt it, seen it on social media and ranted about it — that nagging sense that products aren’t quite the size they used to be.
The chicken drumstick in your hand seems more like a sparrow’s leg than the mini-tomahawk steak it used to be. Lots of KFC and McDonald’s chicken videos here (if you know what I mean). It’s almost as if the birds have been genetically shrinking over the decades.
In-flight meals nowadays barely qualify as a snack. I was on a Philippines Airlines flight last month, and absolutely could not believe the portion served. Imagine the average plate of nasi goreng daging at any shop in KL now remove 70%. I kid you not.
Any more examples you can think of? Burger patties? Battery lives? Shoe sturdiness? Sofa comfort? Toothpaste quantity? Coffee servings (if you ever order the regular coffee at Family Mart, you’ll know what I mean)?
Welcome to the age of shrinkflation — where less becomes the new normal, and we’re all left wondering if our eyes are deceiving us or if the world is shrinking. Capitalism may be pulling a slow one over consumers, such that over time we’re getting less and less despite paying (obviously!) more and more
Whatever the reason, be it cost-cutting or efficiency or “optimization of resources” or what-nots, the problem is that consumers are often left with a lot less than what used to be the case (despite, again, paying somewhat more than we used to years ago).
Even hotels seem to playing this game. Check-in times creep later — sometimes 4 p.m. or past that — while check-out sometimes gets pushed earlier than noon.
At universities, quality learning-time is dwindling too, what with (in some cases) exploding student numbers, limited-capacity classrooms and overworked lecturers. I often wonder what constitutes a ‘learning event’ nowadays, with half the class scrolling through TikTok, the professor reading from his less-than-super-exciting slides and both parties hoping time will fly faster. (And don’t even get me started on the shrinking quality of students’ work).
Even jobs and employers may offer workers less (in terms of benefits and opportunities) nowadays for the same (or even lower) pay.
The Consumer Strikes Back?
Almost the only area where ‘shrinking’ doesn’t seem to exist is, well, social media. Apps, A.I., digital tools, software, platforms ad infinitum — this seems the only major context where quantity (and often quality) is over the roof.
Poetically, it could be the best recourse for consumers to fight back shrinkflation.
Drumsticks smaller than a baby pigeon’s? Put these on FB. No kettle in a 5-star hotel? Let it rip on Tripadvisor.
Public shaming is a valid tactic when it comes to companies stinging on size and/or quality.
If done often enough, perhaps entire sectors can become more sensitive to shrinkflation and begin boosting their quality. Companies and/or entrepreneurs start reflecting on how they can position themselves simply by refusing to compromise on size or portion.
I’m thinking of joints like Burger-Lab (and many others) which offer monster burgers to counter the ham-size offerings of some long-time franchises. I’m thinking of certain cinema complexes which go the extra mile in terms of comfort cos everyone can already tell when cineplexes stop servicing their seats, screens, toilets, etc.
Also, isn’t artisan coffee partially a result of people getting tired of factory-like beverages some coffee chains are guilty of?
This sounds corny but as consumers our battle against shrinkflation will be on-going as long as there are unscrupulous organisations trying to make a fast buck at our expense. We gotta fight back, eyes open, raising hell.
Less isn’t more and shouldn’t at all be the new normal.
