Downsizing products and keeping packages the same size is not new. It's been
going on for years, It's not cheating, only misleading the pubic by deception.
Stan Doore
----- Original Message -----
From: Pat Naughtin
To: U.S. Metric Association
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 11:38 PM
Subject: [USMA:44789] Downsizing
Dear All,
The bad folk who use downsizing to cheat their customers often have a
delightful time as they point out that the process of upgrading to the metric
system is an opportunity for such cheats.
The truth is, however, that these cheats (and their anti-honesty supporters)
don't really mind about honest measuring methods. They will cheat at a time of
measurement stability using such things as pints, pounds, inches, and ounces;
they will cheat at a time of transition from old pre-metric measures to metric
units; and they will continue to cheat once as the upgrade to the metric system
nears completion.
The purpose of this email is to give you an example of the third of these. It
is from the Melbourne newspaper, The Age, from about a week ago (2009-04-15).
Here is the reference:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/home/business/money/planning/that-shrinking-feeling/2009/04/13/1239474815481.html
One of the examples given here is:
Two months ago, brewery firm Foster's backtracked after attempting to charge
the same price for less beer in a new, specially shaped bottle. Sales of the
lager, Cascade, dropped by 33 per cent after a backlash from customers and
online campaigns on social networking sites such as Facebook.
But this article does not refer to the fact that brewers have been routinely
using false measurements to cheat customers for hundreds, and perhaps
thousands, of years. However, in the old pre-metric days cheating was less
transparent. It is easy to see that 333 mL of beer is less than 375 mL of the
same beer — and by how much — hence the backlash reported above. (It is not so
easy to see the amount that the beer has been downsized when it goes from 13
3/16 Fl. Oz. to 11 5/8 Fl. Oz. in the UK or from 12 11/16 Fl. Oz. to 11 1/4 Fl.
Oz. in the USA).
One of the reasons that Bishop John Wilkins invented the universal measure
that became the metric system was to provide honest measures for all people and
to thwart the ever present cheats. See
http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/CommentaryOnWilkinsOfMeasure.pdf
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped
thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric
system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands each
year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat provides
services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and professions for
commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and
in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA,
NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See
http://www.metricationmatters.com for more metrication information, contact Pat
at [email protected] or to get the free 'Metrication matters'
newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to subscribe.
