In his Essays, Michel de Montaigne had a neighbor whose doctor told him not to eat a certain dish. When Montaigne asked him why he ate it anyway, he said he needed something to curse at.
If Books Could Kill did a podcast on “The Four-Hour Workweek” and pointed out he explains the scam he’s running on his own readers. I guess he figures the smart (?) ones can recreate it and the rest just follow the herd.
My local hummus factory puts the product destined for Costco into a different sized tub than the one destined for Walmart. Companies want to make it hard for the consumer to compare.
Costco’s whole thing is selling larger quantities, most times at a lower per unit price than other retailers such as Walmart. Walmart’s wholesale competitor to Costco is Sam’s Club. Also, Costco’s price labels always show the per unit price of the product (as do Walmart’s, in my experience).
Often a false economy. My MIL shops at Sam's Club, and ends up throwing half her food away because she cannot eat it all before it expires. I've told her that those dates often don't mean the food is instantly "bad" the next day but she refuses to touch anything that is "expired."
My wife is the same way - the "best by" date is just a date they put for best "freshness". "Sell by" date is similar. It's not about safety.
My wife grew up in a hot and humid climate where things went bad quickly, so this tendency doesn't come from nowhere. Her whole family now lives in the US midwest, and there are similar arguments between her siblings and their spouses.
The ones I’m talking about were only subtly different, like 22 oz vs 24 oz. To me it was obvious what they were doing, shoppers couldn’t compare same-size units and they could have more freedom with prices.
There is no federal law requiring unit requiring unit pricing, but the the NIST has guidelines that most grocery stores follow voluntarily. 9 states have adopted the guidelines as law.
I don't think that's correct. Prices for retail goods aren't usually even attached to the product in interstate commerce, and are shown locally on store shelving.
“A tendency to superstition is of the very essence of humanity and, when we think we have completely extinguished it, we shall find it retreating into the strangest nooks and corners, that it may issue out thence on the first occasion it can do with safety.”
“Lord Coke gravely informs us that corporations cannot be excommunicated, because they have no souls, and they appear to be as destitute of every feeling as if they had also no bowels.... There is in truth but one point through which they are vulnerable, and that is the keyhole of the cash box.” - Hugo Grotius, Dutch (1583—1645)
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