Somewhere in my vault of old cds, older tapes and ancient vinyl recordings I have a Firesign Theatre routine that highlight a TV ad where the omniscient narrator intones: “You’re not paying more, you’re getting less!” Of course, every ad then or now tries to get you to believe the opposite, that you are paying less and/or getting more than before or the competition or in their minds. Everyone has watched sizes switch (detergent at Dollar Tree!) in response to “supply-chain” issues, inflation, corporate greed, labor costs, and sometimes just because someone thought it was good idea. A Russian You Tube blogger likes to go around to various supermarkets and compare prices on similar products pre and post the Special Military Operation. Generally, prices are higher, quality is lower, and people have fewer rubles to spend. Here, as there, we are familiar with the concept of an odd-shaped container, false bottoms, thickened glass walls etc. as tricks to make a product look more appealing or massive.
Then we have the impetus for today’s diary/rant. Admittedly I bought the above products at different stores, at different times (both within the past 6 months, what can I say, I like all kinds of garlic) and believe them to be comparable in every way. 100% (which is like the Coppertone tan and ivory snow ads, a bit of an exaggeration) garlic powder. Ok, probably some cellulose or some anti-coagulant that allow these products to remain on the shelves for a year is included, presumedly in equal proportions left and right. The brand names are only somewhat relevant for my purposes; other examples abound. So, look again at the two bottles. Which one is clearly the larger container? Yet, what do the labels say? The clearly smaller Great Value is 138% the size of its obviously larger Fresh Finds cousin. I guess to really examine this scientifically and fairly I should go out and try to find two full containers and weigh/measure on my food scale but come the f on! Which product is exaggerating, or underestimating (not likely) is hard to say and could change by the time I get to the stores again. Don’t get me started on tastes better, less filling. I welcome comments on alternate explanations for this all. I am perfectly willing to accept that my old eyes ain’t what they used to be. (Actually, they are better post Lasik). Oh yeah. Slava Ukraini!