Leave it to marketers to create the tantalizing proposition of getting more for less when you buy their product.

Both the new Apple iPhone and Tide 2X are making similar claims.

For the iPhone, Apple says you get twice the speed for half the price.  In fact, the first generation iPhone sold for $399, while the just released 3G version sells for $199.  So far, so true.

One catch is that you have to sign a two year contract.  But the sneakier one is this:

*MOUSE PRINT: The data plan for the new iPhone is $30 a month, compared to $20 a month for the old one.  Over a 24 month period, you will be paying an additional $240 to AT&T for the phone, which, in essence makes it 10% more expensive than its predecessor — not half the price.

Now for Tide 2X.  Procter & Gamble is turning back the clock to the 70s when liquid laundry detergents were concentrated.  You only had to use 1/4 of a cup.   The “new” detergent in essence has half the water of the old one, so the new 50 ounce jug will do the same number of loads as the old 100 ounce one.

But in TV and print advertising, they say the new detergent is more powerful:

“Twice the stain fighting power in every drop” is the claim, and that might make you think it is stronger and better than competitors.

*MOUSE PRINT: The disclaimer indicates the comparison is to their non-concentrated former product.  Fine.  So while it’s literally true that every drop of new Tide has twice the power of the old one, since you only use half the amount , you are not likely to see dramatically cleaner laundry because the product is still diluted by a machine full of water.  (Where “x” is the strength of the product, one-half times 2x still just equals x.)  

Of course, for treating stains directly from the bottle, there may be an advantage.  

Joining the ranks of products being downsized is an array of Kellogg’s cereals, including Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Fruit Loops, Cocoa Krispies, and others.

*MOUSE PRINT: Though the boxes look identical head-on, the new box of Apple Jacks has two cups less of cereal.

How did they do it? The new boxes are narrower:

The new version will also be 10 calories slimmer to your waist line.  High fructose corn syrup was replaced with more apple juice concentrate (reducing sugar), and salt was also decreased.

Both boxes cost $3.49 during the week of July 6.  That works out to 31.7 cents an ounce for the old larger box, and 40.1 cents an ounce for the new smaller one.  That is a 26.4% price increase.  Had the product been kept the same size, its new retail price would have climbed to $4.41.

Why did Kellogg’s downsize?  The company was refreshingly candid in their response:

“This package change is considered a price increase, in that box size is smaller. The reason for the price increase is the rising costs of ingredients and transportation. “

Consumers would clearly notice a price increase of almost a dollar, but the subtle change in packaging may go unnoticed.  And even if shoppers did realize they were getting 2.3 ounces less in the box, they would not likely equate that with a nearly one dollar price hike.

Priceline is making an intriguing offer for travelers this summer — guaranteed sunshine!  “If your vacation is rained out, it’s free!”

Of course, the devil is in the details:

*MOUSE PRINT:

1. You must buy a vacation (hotel, airfare), not just airfare.

2. Sunshine is not guaranteed.  If it is cloudy every day, no refund is due.

3. The big string is the amount of rain necessary to trigger a full refund: it must rain at least 1/2 inch for at least half the days of your trip.  For a five day trip, it has to rain on three of the days.  For an eight day trip, it has to rain on four of the days.  Again, at least 1/2 inch of rain on EACH of the rainy days is required.

How likely is it that you will have so many days of heavy rain on your vacation?  Of course, it depends on the location you choose (only US destinations qualify).  Checking to see how much actual rain different cities get per day, suggests you are unlikely to ever trigger a refund under Priceline’s guarantee.  For example, in June 2008, in the Seattle area – a region known for being wet — there was more than a half inch of rain only on one day that month. [See chart]

In Ft. Lauderdale in June, it was quite rainy.  But in a stretch of 10 days when it rained every day, only two non-consecutive days qualified. [See chart]

On the positive side, Priceline’s “no rain” guarantee is free.  And your refund will be automatic if your trip meets the bad weather criteria it has set.

Bottomline: don’t count on a free trip. 

A Massachusetts credit union is advertising what appears to be a great rate on savings accounts — 4% interest.  On top of that, they promise rewards for every debit card purchase, and to reimburse you for other banks’ ATM fees.

How can this little credit union beat the big online banks?  The simple answer is they can’t.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Only 0.25% interest on amounts over $3000? Thanks for nothing.  If you make any sizeable deposit over $3000, your effective rate of interest will be far below the big online banks.  (HSBC, for example, is paying 3.50% interest on up to $2,000,000 in deposits, until August 15.)

We won’t even get into the other fine print that requires that you also open a checking account, and only get back three cents per purchase as a reward. 

A local Boston television program promoted an outdoor rib fest where chefs from around the country let you taste their version of barbeque ribs, chicken, etc. The price for admission to the event was $5 to $10 at the door (not including food), but discounts were offered at various locations and online.

In fact, if you bought tickets online, the price was only a dollar weekdays.

Note the absence of any fine print. However, when you go to buy the ticket, two surprises await.

*MOUSE PRINT: [click graphic for larger format]

Service fee of $3.00?  Shipping fee of $2.75?  A shipping fee when you print the tickets on your own printer? How could they advertise tickets for $1 when the actual price was nearly seven times that?

The CEO of the event responded to MOUSE PRINT* by saying, in part:

This is being fixed to $8 total for two online tix (everyone buys at least two). This was our arrangement per contract.

[Other places to buy tickets for less than $5 listed]

My company pays for the printing of the tickets and all costs associated with Will Call, which are significant for a 65 hour event.

My company does the best we can to give Phans as many options to get tickets as possible, especially since a lot would rather buy online for convenience and to avoid paying for gas.
 

While not particularly apologetic for charging a $2.75 shipping fee to print tickets on your own printer, the response Mouse Print* received subsequently from the actual ticketing service provider left no doubt that the home ticket printing charge was intentional:

Thank you for your e-mail. We can understand your concerns.

Ticket buyers who choose print at home tickets enjoy the convenience that this option offers and the easy and anytime-access to their tickets minimizing the potential loss of physical tickets by the carrier. The fee covers the technology and personnel required to make this option available at all. The fact that you use your own printer and paper is not factored in the $2.75 print at home fee.

Our fees reflect the percentage charges of the total amount we incur from the credit card company to charge/credit your account when you place the order. They also reflect the costs associated with providing online ticket sales. We cannot refund these fees if the show is cancelled or postponed as per the user agreement on the ticketing web page. — Musictoday, LLC

It appears that the ribs are not the only thing that could be burned at this event.

Manufacturers are rushing to downsize their products as a sneaky way to raise the price without the customer realizing it many times. As this proliferates, we are going to see fewer and fewer standard size products on supermarket shelves.

The quart of mayonnaise has gone by the wayside, as has the three pound tub of margarine. Now it is orange juice’s turn. Typically sold by the quart, half gallon, three quart jug, and gallon, we are beginning to see oddball sizes replace the old standard ones.

Tropicana is the latest to downsize just in the past few weeks. Their three quart jug no longer holds 96 ounces.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Seven ounces are gone from the jug.  Side by side, the difference in jug shape is obvious, but consumers rarely get to see the old and the new together on a supermarket shelf.  While they may notice the shape is different, they may not realize they are getting almost a cup less of oj. According to one supermarket dairy manager, the price has stayed the same.

And as is often the case when a product is downsized, the manufacturer diverts your attention away from the net weight statement by pointing out something new.  In this case, they discontinued the old screw cap and added a new flip top one. On second thought, maybe the company just found a new way to screw customers.

A Tropicana customer service representative explained the company’s position:

The downsizing from 96 to 89 ounces wasn’t a decision we took lightly. As you are aware, oil costs have skyrocketed. Oil is used to make plastic bottles, fuel our factories, and ship our juice across the country in refrigerated trains and trucks. We had the choice to either increase prices or to downsize the bottle. We chose to downsize the bottle but add value through the innovation of the SNAP cap and new bottle, which consumers were seeking.

Although you may not agree with our decision, we hope you can appreciate that they were made in the best interest of our consumers and shareholders.

You may have seen TV and print ads for a new low dose aspirin called “Bayer Aspirin with Heart Advantage.”  It is an 81 mg aspirin combined with an ingredient that can lower your cholesterol.

With about 50 million Americans taking daily aspirin therapy to reduce the risk of heart disease, what a great idea (seemingly) to incorporate an ingredient that can also lower cholesterol.

There is just one little problem with this little pill.

*MOUSE PRINT:  At the bottom of the ad, in fine print, (magnified below) is this advisory:

Translation: In order to get the cholesterol lowering benefits of this pill, you need to take two of these 81 mg pills a day – twice the typically recommended 81 mg. dose of aspirin. (The most common dosage for daily aspirin therapy is 81 mg. because larger doses can cause internal bleeding, and are no more effective.)

A spokesperson for Bayer confirmed the necessity of taking two caplets in order to receive the cholesterol lowering benefits promised, but said,

… 162 mg is well within the accepted low dose range of aspirin therapy of from 50 to 325 mg … We advise patients to ask their physician before they start Bayer Heart Advantage…

One only has to wonder how many people will grab this product, take their regular single 81 mg pill as usual thinking they were getting “more heart protection” when they are not. Why didn’t Bayer just put the full 800 mg of phytosterols necessary to get a heart advantage in a single 81 mg aspirin caplet and thus avoid mis-dosing?

“The FDA claim specifies that ‘the daily dietary intake of plant sterol or stanol esters should be consumed in two servings eaten at different times of the day with other foods.’ The health claim also says that dietary supplements or food containing at least 400mg per serving of free phytosterols, eaten twice a day with meals for a daily total intake of at least 800mg, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering blood cholesterol.” — Bayer spokesperson.

To emphasize that the dosing is different for this product, Bayer should put a conspicuous disclosure on the front panel that says “Take one twice a day,” and not merely rely on the fine print instructions on the back.

Who doesn’t like free samples, right? So when this offer of a free sample of PainVanish pain relieving cream arrived, a Mouse Print* reader was anxious to give it a try.

It promised to bring “freedom from your aches and pains.” And all you have to do is cut out the little “I want relief” sticker and place it on the free sample coupon for mailing back to the company.

There is small print repeated multiple times that says the free sample is just “for trying our ‘No-Obligations-To-Buy’ Service”.  While one might reasonably conclude that the sample you are going to get is the way this company will try to induce you to place future orders if you like the product, they have something else planned. This disclosure is on the back of the brochure, not the back of the tear off coupon:

*MOUSE PRINT:

Translation: This is really a “pain cream of the month” club. If you don’t tell them to cancel, a month after your free sample arrives, you will first get a two ounce tube of cream for $14.99 plus unspecified shipping and handling charges, and then every month thereafter you will get a four ounce tube for $24.99 plus shipping and handling. You are not just getting a simple free sample by replying to this offer.

Negative option plans such as this are required to clearly and conspicuously disclose the continuing nature of the offer and to get you to affirmatively agree to it.  Whether this disclosure meets that test is for a judge to decide.

This pain relief offer may turn out to be a pain itself if you didn’t read the fine print.

Scanning the supermarket aisles last week, MrConsumer spotted a display of Sparkle paper towels.  Some of the single roll packages were marked “Giant Roll” and some of them were marked “Big Roll.”

While the pattern on the towels was the same, and the price was the same, the UPC codes were different.  Was one replacing the other?

A quick look at the fine print revealed the difference:

*MOUSE PRINT:

The question was which product was the new one?  As it turns out, the smaller “giant” roll is the new one with six fewer sheets, while the larger “big” roll is the old one.   Who would ever think that the “giant” roll was smaller than “big” roll?

Noting the incongruity between the size names and actual sizes, MrConsumer asked Georgia-Pacific, the maker of Sparkle, the following questions:

“What happened, and why the change, and why the change of name?”

They responded:

Thank you for contacting the Georgia-Pacific Consumer Response Center. Georgia-Pacific places tremendous importance on the feedback we receive from our consumers.

Periodically we change packaging due to marketing decisions, along with other trends in the marketplace.  We certainly attempt to keep our packaging fresh and new.  Thank you for being a loyal Sparkle Towel user. I certainly hope this information helps and have a great day!

Nothing like a non-answer.

Next time they downsize, maybe the new package will be called “Gargantuan”.

UPDATE: A physical count of the number of sheets on each roll revealed that BOTH had identical amounts — 92 sheets per roll — more than the label indicated. Go figure.

On the promotional package of Levitra (a pill like Viagra used to make Mr. Happy stand at attention), the company boldly claims that “Levitra is clinically proven to work for men with erectile disfunction, even those with high blood pressure…”

At the bottom of the page is this typical warning:

*MOUSE PRINT: “Please see Important Safety Information on back panel.”

The back panel spells out various possible dire consequences such as erections lasting longer than four hours, and sudden loss of vision or hearing.  It also warns:

*MOUSE PRINT:

One has to wonder how many people with high blood pressure may have only seen the big print representation that Levitra was seemingly safe for those with high blood pressure, but missed the smaller but stiffer warning to steer clear.

Clarification: The warning is actually a two-part one for those with high blood pressure: (1) For those with high blood pressure but taking drugs to control it, you are advised to consult your doctor before taking this drug; and (2) for those with uncontrolled blood pressure, you are advised not to take the drug at all.  This is substantially different on both counts from the unqualified advertised claim that Levitra is suitable for people even with high blood pressure.