In New York, I can't find a 2 Liter bottle of Coca Cola anymore. Instead, the 1.5 Liter bottles seem to have taken over, yet the price remains the same. This is a perfect example of short sizing - companies reducing the size of products without changing the price. Sometimes there is no noticeable difference in the packaging, although in the case of Coca Cola the bottles are slightly slimmer.

These slimmer bottles were introduced to New York in 2004, but more companies are following the trend because of increased fuel costs. Food companies are hoping that consumers won't react unfavorable to this sometimes sneaky tactic of reducing food product sizes.

Would you rather a small decrease in your favorite box of cereal, or pay an increased price? There's a discussion at NY Daily News that got me thinking about this. Personally, I'm not opposed to this practice, but I have an issue when companies try to hide it and don't tell the truth. Coca Cola says they reduced the reduced size was to make it so the bottle fit easier in your hand. Tropicana said they had complaints of a lot of spillage with their 96 ounce plastic jug of Orange Juice, so they reduced it to 89 ounces, yet the suggested retail price remains at $4.99. What?!

Image source: Carriar]

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