Beware of New and Improved

I think that progress is wonderful. In no way would I want to go back to living the way my ancestors of one hundred years ago did. I'm not looking to boil my clothes on top of a wood-burning stove. But in adopting all the marvelous items that have made life easier we are sometimes duped into believing things that may or may not be true.

Manufacturers are not stupid. They know that most people are people of habit. While they may occasionally buy a new product, they tend to stick with the tried and true that has worked for them. This is unacceptable to manufacturers, who need consumers to be constantly buying. The weapon they use? "New and Improved" emblazoned boldly across a product package.

So what makes that product new and improved? What is the actual benefit to the consumer? In some cases the only thing that has changed is the product packaging, and that is not always to a consumer's benefit. Some orange juice companies touted a new, improved, sturdier container for their orange juices. Improved? The juice in the container went from 64 ounces to 59 ounces, but the price remained the same. What was improved was the producer's bottom line.



Companies that make cleaning and grooming products are among the worst offenders when it comes to using the new and improved label on their products. From year to year the packaging of these products changes, and trust me, the packages never get larger, only smaller. Sometimes the only actual changes are the colors of the labels on the packages. Sometimes the size of the bottle/box changes. And sometimes the shape of the bottles change. One major shampoo advertised heavily that its bottles were now more user friendly because they had an indentation in the middle allowing them to be grasped easier during use. That new shape plus a cap that was 3/4 of an inch taller than the old one on a bottle that was shorter than the old one resulted in 4 ounces less of shampoo in the bottle than was there previously--and a cost that went up over $1.00 per bottle.

Reynolds aluminum foil 200 foot roll is touting its new space saving packaging. Now let me ask you: was storing that roll of foil really such a space saving problem? Forget the new packaging: I want to know what they have done to the foil inside the package. Is it still as thick as it once used to be? That the package is not going to tell you. When that foil costs 6.99 to 8.99 a package I'd rather have something tangible that reduces the price, not the packaging.

Along with new and improved you also have the word "concentrated" to deal with. If you read the label even briefly, concentrated should mean that you need to use less of the product now then you did before. Maybe. Some of these products are 2X concentrated, some 3X or 4X concentrated. Most of the manufacturers who offer concentrated products claim they are saving you money by doing so--they reduce the expense of the packaging while still giving you the same amount of product. Yeah, right.

The manufacturer of a popular detergent went the concentrated route on most of its products, and shopping for this product is now way too complicated. Side by side you have the concentrated and still a few of the non-concentrated items. So, a concentrated bottle of the detergent, offering 3X concentration. The weight on the bottle is 32 ounces. The bottle states that it gives you 32 loads of laundry (except when you actually read the bottle and find out that large or heavily soiled loads will need twice the detergent.) That should mean that the non-concentrated detergent would be 96 ounces for the same 32 loads. Now look at its 2X cousin. That bottle is 60 ounces and states it will give you 31 loads of laundry. So in the non-concentrated form that would be 120 ounces equalling 31 loads of laundry. Anyone noticing a problem? In black and white and looked at side by side you've got 31-32 loads of laundry using either 96 ounces or 120 ounces of regular detergent. The numbers don't compute. Of course they don't; if they did you might actually be able to compare the cost per ounce and see which of the products is the least expensive. And even though both the 2X and the 3X give you about the same number of regular loads, their prices aren't the same.

It shouldn't take a degree in advanced mathematics to go grocery shopping. Thanks to all those new and improved products that flood the shelves, that's where we are heading. I was sitting with a pocket calculator figuring all the costs across the various sizes offered on a paper towel product. The assistant manager of the store walked by and saw me doing my calculations. He pointed out that the best buy was a paper towel that was being offered at what he called a "spectacular" sale because of its new and improved space saving size and multiple rolls per pack. I then pointed out to him that he was wrong, dead wrong. The on sale paper towels were smaller in dimension than many other of the towels being sold and had less towels per roll than many of the others. Even with more rolls per pack they were more expensive to buy than others were. They weren't as thick as many of the others either. Even on sale they weren't a bargain. He walked off grumbling about smartaleck shoppers. Tough.

Yes, today it really must be emphasized: let the buyer be ware. Those manufacturers are not producing their products out of the goodness of their hearts. And when they tell you about new and improved? Learn how to be a skeptic.