Coca-Cola is trying to pull a fast one, hoping nobody will notice. Their soft drinks come in a variety of vessels of various materials and in various sizes and shapes. The favored beverage at our house was the six-pack of Diet Coke in 24-fluid-ounce (710 mL) plastic bottles.
Inflation and economic disaster have combined to raise the price of said six-packs to nearly double what they were, say, five or six years ago -- enough to cause sticker shock. Recognizing this, Coca-Cola has resorted to Frito-Lay's old trick of providing less for the same price. The 24-ounce bottles are no longer available in any Wal-Mart, Target, Meijer or Kroger store I have visited in the last ten days. The only six-packs of bottles they now carry are 16.9 fluid ounces (500 mL), for which they are asking the same price as before.
Frito-Lay, which, incidentally, is owned by Pepsi-Cola, has been doing this for years with their various chips. They reduce the size but keep the price the same. Later, they bring out a bigger bag, touting the "New Larger Size!" which has a new larger price. Eventually that size will become standard, and then they play the trick over again.
Remember when a bag of Ruffles weighed a pound? The one I bought yesterday is 9-1/2 ounces. They do have a "giant family size," but it's only 13-1/2 ounces, probably because at the current price, a one-pound bag of Ruffles would cost more than $7.25. Talk about sticker shock.
The only thing Coca-Cola has said about this size gimmick pertains to the bottles for vending machines, which will also be smaller. They say it is in response to the general public's interest in reducing the amount of soda pop we consume.
Uh-huh.
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