PepsiCo pushed shrinkflation too far and learned a customer lesson

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This is one hell of a funny Shrinkflation video, the number of chips in Lay's is so small you can't afford to share it with your friends.

The first few seconds was so funny

https://youtube.com/shorts/y3XLUjHujm0?si=xJ3gfvm3i_urCdo-

When PepsiCo, the parent company of Tostitos, Lay's and Ruffles, announced it would start filling bonus bags with 20 percent more chips, they were admitting they had gone too far. Well it exactly, they would have gone further if the general public had not complained.

The new bonus bags, which started shipping in time for the 2024 football season was not a gift to consumers, it was a concession.

For years, the bags have been getting smaller. The price remained the same, but the number of chips inside dwindled. We all knew it was happening, but somehow companies convinced themselves we wouldn’t notice or that we wouldn’t do the math to figure out that their products were getting more expensive by the ounce. Turns out, we did. And when the chips started to cost more per ounce than almost everything else at the grocery store, we started to get annoyed.

The problem with shrinkflation as the practice of downsizing packages without changing their prices is known, is that it only works until it doesn’t. Companies can lop off an ounce or two and consumers might not think much of it. But when PepsiCo persisted during a period of rage against prices, rents are too high, gas is too expensive, wages aren’t going far enough, it crossed a line. Then, to add insult to injury, you opened up a bag of Doritos and found that it was only half full.

As a result, their sales tanked. Even PepsiCo’s chief executive, Ramon Laguarta, acknowledged that volumes were impacted in 2024. Store brands started to look awfully good when the only other option was paying a premium for a glorified sample pack.

So now the company is trying to lure us back with bonus bags. It’s a calculated move, the larger bags will only be available during periods when people are most likely to notice whether the bowl of chips at the party is full, during football season, parties and other events where lots of people gather. The company is also adding more small bags to its popular multipack variety packs, but let’s be real, we all know it’s only replacing what was already taken away.

The most remarkable part of this saga is just how obvious it all became. Shrinkflation is typically a sneaky way to raise prices, it’s not supposed to be front page news. But these days, people can do math, they’re armed with social media and they’re willing to defect to another brand at the first sign of treachery.

Whether PepsiCo will keep the bigger bags or continue to filling bags with as few chips as possible once the outrage dies down is anyone’s guess. But at least there’s one thing the company has learned, customers have a breaking point. And once you hit it, brand loyalty disappears surprisingly fast.