Size Does Matter

I worked in Guelph Ontario about 20 – 25 years ago and that was when the Post Office was experimenting with K-cars, having one person designated as the driver and three others being dropped off and picked up. On paper it was a great system, but in reality it left a lot to be desired. You see, not all letter carriers work at the same speed. Every morning I would have to wait 45 minutes to an hour to be picked up. My driver was a bastard!

 

Luckily, there was a Macs Milk store that I could shelter in during the cold and the rain. It was at this store that I learned how to eat a package of Voortman’s Blueberry Turnovers. They were pretty cheap and delicious. I spent a lot of time at that particular Macs, getting to know the owner and even some of the sales people that would come every now and then. I was talking to a Mars bar sales representative one day and I told her that I loved Mars bars. I remembered the commercials that featured Nancy Green and told the woman so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9mFU1ylNd4 She said that the Nancy Green commercial was one of the best remembered commercials of all time. It had been close to 20 years and people still remembered it fondly. I went on to mention that the taste had changed recently and she told me the company had to go to less expensive materials to keep the price the same.

 

I have noticed that all companies have done similar things over the years to hide the fact that things are changing. You can bet that whenever there is a packaging change the product is getting smaller. You really know this to be true when they print the words “NEW JUMBO SIZE” in large yellow letters on the front. I can remember when Tim Horton’s donuts were close to twice the size they are now. I used to always order the “dutchie”, but now that it seems to be just slightly larger than a Tim Bit it just doesn’t seem worth it anymore. I guess it is a necessary progression as the years go by. I wonder if I am blessed with a long life whether the “dutchies” will once again grow larger. I’m hoping that there is a pendulum principal at work in the universe of donut sizes.

 

Tonight, Louise brought home a treat for me. She brought home a Cherry Blossom candy bar. Well, it isn’t really a candy bar, but it is a cherry surrounded by sweet, liquidy goodness and then smothered in milk chocolate. I never used to buy the Cherry Blossoms because I thought that I would get a bigger bang for my buck from some other candy bar. The odd time I did have one I felt like Snuffles the dog in the Quick Draw McGraw cartoons.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zldJlUSJ9OI Tonight when I picked up the Cherry Blossom, I noticed that it was less than half the size it used to be. They used to be 10 cents as well, and now I suspect they are pushing $1.50. Oh well, times they do change. The taste was just as I remembered, and truth be told, I don’t really need to be eating a large chunk of cherry goodness.

When I go and look at the candy bar shelves in the variety stores now, I see all of these miniature candy bars and I can’t help but think, “In this case, size does matter!”