Jay Livingston of MontClair SocioBlog, in the tradition of Dan Myer‘s takedowns of TIDE and Aquafresh, tells the tale of his aspirin purchase:
It came in two sizes – 120 pills and 300 pills. The larger size was the better bargain. And it certainly looked much larger on the shelf.
Then I got home and opened the package. The bottle was mostly empty. I had bought a lot of air. The 300 little aspirin tablets were all there I guess, though I didn’t bother to count them. But they would have fit into a bottle one-third the size.
For more marketing tricks, see our post on the meaningless discount and the geography of the menu.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 37
Keeley — March 19, 2010
...ok, but he still got more than twice the product for a less-than-proportional increase in price.
Penny — March 19, 2010
The package isn't really deceptive -- it says that 300 pills will be enclosed, and they are. Most folks would know that 300 aspirin are fairly small. (Do you really want bigger pills for your money?) Seems to me that they're saving money with the bigger package, at least three ways:
STANDARDIZATION. I assume that the company uses a few standard sizes of boxes, bottles and labels for all its products, and sometimes they'll be a bit oversize for the specific job.
TRANSPORTATION LOSS. I was always told that that cotton in the bottle protects the pills from breakage in transit. Don't know if it's true, but crushing the pills into a small bottle would probably result in some loss.
THEFT PREVENTION: It's also likely that a larger package decreases the risk of shoplifting.
At least there's not hard plastic shell around the whole box....
hypatia — March 19, 2010
The discussion isn't that there was not a deal to be had but that the company over-inflates the size of the bottle to make the deal seem better than it is.
Rationally you can say "Hey, it's 300" but the larger size does of an impact on the brain, we don't buy to many products and then expect to find that it's already over half empty.
I think my favourite example of this is actually a diet study. If you take the same amounts of food an place it on a small plate vs. a large plate people will actually end up eating less if you give them the small plate. The food, taking up more space on the small plate, it perceived to be more food and thus will not eat as much of it. Our brains can be easily "tricked".
MPS — March 19, 2010
It's not necessarily a trick: larger size might help deter theft.
ANW — March 19, 2010
I am getting fed up with this blog, which I used to follow avidly. You are beginning to trivialize the importance of the issues you discuss with this predetermined, faux-consternation at the smallest and most random of offenses. (300 pills in a big bottle, slightly unfortunate wording in a 40-year-old advertisement, dolls that you mistook as people, etc). Don't post something just for the sake of posting something.
po — March 19, 2010
It doesn't matter the size of the bottle because the bottle doesn't "trick" anyone. This is a low dose aspirin taken once a day every day. People who use this product see it as "almost a year's worth" whether it is put in a gallon jug or stuffed in a thimble.
E — March 19, 2010
It sure is a pain in the ass to carry a giant bottle around in your purse.
George — March 20, 2010
I don't think it's a trick either. The number of pills in a bottle is clear, and easier for people to understand than something like the number of ounces in an oversize cereal box.
A non-tricky explanation is that the size is meant to attract attention. In a drug store there are hundreds of bottles on a very cluttered looking shelf. A small bottle is difficult to notice. This seems a legitimate advertising purpose of the packaging rather than a deceptive one.
technicolorsheep — March 20, 2010
At least you have bottles. I've always found them highly convenient as opposed to these… er, blister-packaging* the pills usually come in here. You buy 20 pills, separately sealed, and they cost you some 3-4 Euros. It's a joke. And a waste of plastic.
*Is that the word? Anyway, I mean these thingies here: http://static-p3.fotolia.com/jpg/00/12/97/10/400_F_12971005_0KpljE6wAYfkrPEkdR2fiO6jwRtlx2Mn.jpg
Blix — August 18, 2011
Landfills are rejoicing everywhere.