https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/feb/12/joe-biden-president-snack-makers-shrinkflation-super-bowl
US president tells big brands ‘the public is tired of being played for suckers’ in video to mark Super Bowl
Article mentions nothing with regards to holding corporations accountable nor any plan or threat of action on the president’s part.
These kinds of comments frustrate me... They fundamentally conflate the presidency with a more king-like position.
The system is setup against him doing anything other than speaking out about the issue and trying to motivate others to do something about it. The president ultimately has little power ... it's more of a oversight/cheer leading position (with some extended powers over the years to deal with imminent issues -- e.g., authorize short term military operations, which is still scary in the wrong hands) while congress is the office workers that are supposed to actually get the law writing done.
Unfortunately, we've had roughly a decade of Republican lead stagnation due to slim majority Democrat representation or outright majority Republican representation -- the Republican platform is after all the "do nothing because more government is bad" platform.
He's doing exactly what he should be doing, using the office to call people out and bring attention to issues/start conversations. That can result in brands either going "... lets make a voluntary change to get the heat off" or the public going "yeah that's a good point calls congressional rep to complain."
Well put!
The president ultimately has little power … it’s more of a oversight/cheer leading position
And let me emphasize this is a good thing, even if the previous officeholder ignored legal restrictions on his power
What are you suggesting he do about it?
edit for the knee-jerk downvoters: Everything the government is authorized to do is codified in federal statute, including agency powers. If Congress doesn't give an agency the power to regulate the size and shape of a peanut butter cup, the agency cannot regulate the size and shape of a peanut butter cup, full stop. The reason the President isn't proposing a fix to this is that Congress hasn't given anyone the authority to fix this problem. The FDA can sorta kinda regulate slack fill (i.e. the empty space in your bag of chips) but only if it's non-functional or deceptive. Shrinkflation is quite legal, so long as the size/weight of the product is clearly labeled. If companies get away with it, that's because we're stupid, clueless consumers who never read labels. And they will continue to do it until a) we stop buying their product, or b) Congress passes a law to make it illegal. Unless that happens, we're stuck with it because the President is not an all powerful god who can will things into existence.
Once again, civic literacy in this county proves profoundly lacking.
Make it expensive to change the weight of a product. Standardize the size and weight of a given type of product. Require the packaging to alert consumers that the weight have changed in the last year and how much it has changed. Tie the trademark of a given product to a certain weight.
Are these good ideas? I don't know, I literally made them up just now while shitting. I am sure the president of the United States could hire at least one dude to come up with better ones.
Make it expensive to change the weight of a product.
The President literally can't do that.
Standardize the size and weight of a given type of product.
The President can't do that. Not sure the FDA can even do that, as just about all they can weigh in on is product safety (i.e. "does not contain more than X of any harmful substance") and categorical definitions (i.e. "ice cream must meet this definition"). They can't say, "all M&Ms must be this big and weigh this much".
Require the packaging to alert consumers that the weight have changed in the last year and how much it has changed.
Neither the President nor the FDA can do that. The FDA doesn't have the regulatory power to do anything even close to that.
Tie the trademark of a given product to a certain weight.
That's....not how trademarks work, at all.
Look man, it's as frustrating to me as it is to anyone, but y'all can't just make up a bunch of fanciful, largely illegal remedies to the problem and then lay the blame for their impossibility on the President's desk. That's just ridiculous.
I understand that you are very into the position of going face down ass up for corporations but can I interest you in the idea that politicians are allowed to express things they would like to work towards even if they are personally not able to make it happen the second they say it.
Biden is a very powerful man that employs a large number of very smart people. If he wants to he can put together an action plan on how to make things happen.
I understand that you are very into the position of going face down ass up for corporations
You know that point when people stop taking you seriously? That's right here.
can I interest you in the idea that politicians are allowed to express things they would like to work towards even if they are personally not able to make it happen the second they say it.
So this is just a circle jerk about imaginary fantasy lands? Good to know we're just aimlessly flailing now.
Biden is a very powerful man that employs a large number of very smart people. If he wants to he can put together an action plan on how to make things happen.
He is not a dictator, nor a god. We have a system of very rigorous checks and balances, and it's abundantly clear that you have no earthly idea how our government actually functions. Just because you can put together an action plan, doesn't mean what the plan calls for is actually legal or achievable.
All great ideas if it weren't for the fact that we have a court system heavily weighted towards pro-corporate conservatism, so none of that would survive legal challenges and there would be a shit ton of corporate challenges.
Food in general doesn't even go through the FDA, does it? They only get involved if there's a problem. If it was pre approval, it would be a super slow process likely.
Edit: my train of thought was if it needed approval, any size changes would go to a slow line, but in reality, any small company would go to slow lines also, which would truly suck.
All of these things would have to be done by Congress. The President is really not the dictator that the internet thinks he is (outside of some particular domains). But just to go through those:
Make it expensive to change the weight of a product.
How? Make the government track the size of ever possible consumable product and mandate a fee when changed? Beyond the enormous logistical effort for no obvious purpose, this would also make it costly for a company to add more product. Perhaps you only apply the fee when a size decreases, but then,, how do you handle the case where a company intentionally launches a smaller sized version for a different market, eg individual or snack sized portions? What if they launch a new size and then discontinue the older, larger one, so it technically didn't change? Does that have a fine? Sure, you can try to track all of this stuff carefully and determine what the net effect is, but that costs time and money all for no significant benefit.
Standardize the size and weight of a given type of product
Who determines the standard, and why? Why should it be illegal to sell a smaller or larger bag of chips or soda?
Require the packaging to alert consumers that the weight have changed in the last year and how much it has changed
This would just be one more tiny disclaimer line on the back that nobody would read. Not to mention, the size and weight is already on the package. Consumers are already perfectly capable of seeing the weight and deciding if the value for that price is good. I somewhat doubt most people would actually change their behavior by learning that there were ten more chips in the bag a year ago, and at any rate, companies know that consumers would rather pay the same price for less than pay a higher price for the same amount.
Tie the trademark of a given product to a certain weight.
That is categorically not how trademarks work.
Law requiring all prices to be in a format of
$ per actual measurement unit and include all applicable taxes.
Presidents can't pass laws and the House Republican majority is basically dedicated to going against whatever Biden proposes.
Absolutely it's very frustrating watching them try to do so much only to have it curtailed by a Republican majority Congress.
People think the president can issue an executive order for anything they want. That being said I hope his cabinet does move on proposing this because it would be a huge win for pricing transparency.
Absolutely it’s very frustrating watching them try to do so much only to have it curtailed by a Republican majority Congress.
It was more frustrating two years ago when it was being curtailed by a Democratic majority congress.
Yeah well Dems stopping tax cuts for the rich don't hurt us as much as Reps trying to shut down the government because we refuse tax cuts for the rich but by all means "both sides"
Yeah well Dems stopping tax cuts for the rich don’t hurt us as much
Who said anything about them stopping tax cuts for the rich? I was talking about stuff Democrats did 2 years ago, like stopping the minimum wage increase and BBB. You know, their accomplishments.
There never was a Democratic majority congress. West Virginia and Arizona both sent senators who had a D next to their name, but were really Rs.
Not only that, but you need a super majority in the senate to get anything real through, which means you need 60+ Democrats who ALL need to be on board, along with a majority of Democrats in the House, AND a Democrat president.
That hasn't happened since early Obama, and he squandered it by trying to pass bipartisan legislation with the Republicans, instead of just railroading the right things through.
When was the last time Republicans held a majority like that and how is it that despite that majority, they still manage to pass all their vile legislation?
There never was a Democratic majority congress.
50 plus a tiebreaker is a majority. You lied.
West Virginia and Arizona both sent senators who had a D next to their name, but were really Rs.
West Virginia and Arizona sent senators who represent party leadership to absolute perfection. They define the party.
Not only that, but you need a super majority in the senate to get anything real through, which means you need 60+ Democrats who ALL need to be on board, along with a majority of Democrats in the House, AND a Democrat president.
The filibuster can be done away with forever with a simple majority. Manchin's party never will.
That hasn’t happened since early Obama, and he squandered it by trying to pass bipartisan legislation with the Republicans
He got the bailouts passed. Democrats could have destroyed the relic of Jim Crow that is the filibuster to pass the public option. But they didn't wanna.
Presidents can't pass laws
Yeah, this thread is beyond frustrating. We need to prioritize teaching civics in high school because it could not be more obvious that a large number of people out there have no idea what they’re even talking about. It’s just ignorant rage.
The top comment in this comment section is so ignorant it should embarrass everyone using Lemmy.
I love how this argument only comes out when it's needed to defend Democratic inaction. Bring up Trump's campaign and see how quickly that idea flips.
Right, but he could get the ball rolling by getting someone in congress he knows to start a bill for the idea.
If Repub's shoot it down, then he's got more ammo in his ads
How do you know that hasn't already happened? Bob Casey's office released a report on shrinkflation, and sent a letter to the GAO to identify transparency measures that the federal government can implement to help consumers recognize shrinkflation. Sounds like there's a lot already moving.
Why is him getting out in front of the issue in the media not considered "ammo for his ads"? If all he needs is something to virtue signal about, then isn't that exactly what he's doing right now?
We have that in the Netherlands; it’s very helpful. You usually see a price per kilo or a price per liter. Makes it really easy to just look at product X, Y and Z and see which one is actually more expensive, without having to do math in your head. That really should be the law everywhere.
Yeah, and in the UK I noticed that tax is included on the listed price as well. So again, no surprises for people when they check out, and don't need to do the math to account for the extra tax.
Same in the Netherlands. A shop legally must show a price that includes taxes. I’m always amazed that that’s not a thing in the US. Because you’re still forced to pay those taxes anyway, so why confuse things by not just showing the tax included price?
Here, what you see is what you pay.
$ per actual measurement unit
I've already seen this in essentially every supermarket ever, usually per ounce. Sure, you have to have some vague intuition about what that is relative to the product, but you can still make standardized comparisons across, say, different kinds of chips, very easily.
It'd be nice to include taxes, I agree.
Including taxes doesn't really matter for that measure.
The bigger issue is that they're unreliable. They're often not updated if there's a sale, for instance.
What are you suggesting he do about it?
Oh don’t expect an answer from that OP. They’re here to blame Biden. It doesn’t matter if there’s anything he can actually do about the issue.
It's all about lip service. Neither party really gives a shit about the American public.
Of course it doesn't. They probably don't have any actual plan to enforce laws. 🤦
I can't wait until I become High Galactic Overlord of this planet so I can boot those motherfuckers off of a cliff.
Talking a big game and then not doing anything? You have stumbled onto the secret plan of Joe Biden Democrats politicians Homo sapiens.
Yeah like Democrats trying to give out free school lunches to children, and then the Republicans just saying no.
It must be "homo sapiens".
If politicians were serious in their criticism they would vote for laws forcing comparison price to be displayed next to the purchase price.
That has never stopped presidents before. In response to inflation in 1971 President Nixon issued an executive order making it illegal to raise prices for several months and before him FDR went even farther with rationing and controlling wages.
Inflation is actually super easy to control. You just need to be willing to threaten business leaders with serious jail time.
Literally straight from the link I just posted:
In 1971, President Richard Nixon issued Executive Order 11615 (pursuant to the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970)
Per the ESA of 1970:
The Economic Stabilization Act of 1970 (Title II of Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 91–379, 84 Stat. 799, enacted August 15, 1970,[2] formerly codified at 12 U.S.C. § 1904) was a United States law that authorized the President to stabilize prices, rents, wages, salaries, interest rates, dividends and similar transfers[3] as part of a general program of price controls within the American domestic goods and labor markets.
And also from the link I just posted:
During the 1930s, the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) created the National Recovery Administration, that set prices and created codes of "fair practices".
Per the NIRA of 1933:
The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (NIRA) was a US labor law and consumer law passed by the 73rd US Congress to authorize the president to regulate industry for fair wages and prices that would stimulate economic recovery.
It helps to read sources that people provide for you, before you respond. The long and the short of everything I just showed you, and that you confirmed, is that in the two most famous cases of price controls in the 20th century, Congress explicitly authorized the Executive Branch to do so.
Inflation is actually super easy to control. You just need to be willing to threaten business leaders with serious jail time.
Ok Mao.
Well TIL, I always thought that executive orders were a way to bypass Congress. I know that there was a Democratic Congress in 1971, I wonder why they rubber stamped that for Nixon.
First off, inflation doubled between 1965 and 1970, as it hit 5.5% in 1970. Then, the act was seen as “a political dare,” according to top Nixon official George Shultz — the Democrats thought Nixon wouldn’t use the powers they’d granted him, but he called their bluff. Republicans accused them of using it as an election year ploy to make it look like they were seriously fighting inflation. Democrats held Congress later that year, so in that way perhaps it helped, but they'd been in control since 1955, so their grip on power was pretty firm.
Nixon initially refused to use his authority, but then a year after the ESA's passage inflation kept rising at a break-neck pace, and he started the Nixon Shock, which helped him get reelected with 520 electoral votes in 1972. So in that way, the pressures Nixon was facing were a lot like the pressures Biden's currently facing. As it turns out, however, inflation kept rising through the mid 70s, and what was initially a political success, when paired with the 1973 oil crisis, quickly caused the 73-75 recession which was marred by stagflation. So it sounded good on paper, but wound up royally fucking the entire middle and working classes in multiple countries, as the unemployment rate nearly doubled.
My opinion is regulate it so any shrinking has to be marked in large bold caps lettering NOW X% SMALLER for at least 1 year. Then people might actually stop buying shrunken goods and opt for a competitor.
Oh, I'm still offering the old size product. It's just less efficient and profitable than our completely new, slightly smaller size.
I was talking to a friend recently and mentioned that Lil Debbie Fudge Rounds used to be the same diameter as the "Double Decker" ones.
Now they're smaller than the diameter of an air hockey puck. And don't even get me started on how regular Oreo Cookies used to look like the double stuff Oreos. The gall to cut the product in half, add the other half back to it, then charge more and have the balls to call it "double..."
Did he say anything about actually doing something about it? Some-sort of shrinkflation law or something?
At what point during the shrink does the packaging cost more than the single serving of potatoe chip fumes?
90% of the snacks I buy are the store brand. Particularly, Walmart since it's the cheapest place to get foodstuffs here. So far, while all the big names have visibility shrunk in size and value, the store brands have remained the same while just continuing to grow in value compared to the other brands that are giving you less for more.
As President should do something about the tiny size of Pringles in Australia, which are a sad shadow of their former glory now.
I think having less potato chips in a package is probably good for the American people. However, having another year of Mahomes commercials is not.
Nothing to do with less chips, everything to do with same price. Put less chips if you need, reduce price accordingly.
Oh, did they show another Knuckles show ad during the Super Bowl? I didn't watch it.
