Mars Bar from 1991 found – and it's 20g bigger than today's (bbc.com)

Article summary

A 35-year-old Mars Bar was found during a house clearance in Scunthorpe, and it was discovered to be 56% bigger than the current version. The bar, with a best-before date of 1991, weighed 62.5g, while the current Mars Bar weighs 40g. The discovery has sparked discussions about 'shrinkflation', where companies reduce the size of their products without changing the price. The manufacturer, Mars, Incorporated, has stated that they have made updates to their bar sizes and pack formats to reflect consumer demand and external factors such as manufacturing costs and cocoa prices.

Main themes

• Shrinkflation
• Food portion sizes
• Consumer demand
• Manufacturing costs
• Chocolate industry
• Product comparison

What commenters say

• Reducing portion sizes for junk food can be beneficial for consumers' health, even if it is a result of shrinkflation.
• The shrinkage of Mars Bars is likely due to the company's attempt to increase revenue by selling more units, rather than a genuine concern for consumer health.
• The comparison between old and new Mars Bars highlights the issue of price discrimination, where companies charge different prices for the same product in different regions or stores.
• Some argue that smaller portions of solid blocks of sugar are not necessarily a bad thing, as long as the price decreases accordingly.
• Others believe that the reduction in size is a result of the company's greed and desire to increase profits, rather than a response to consumer demand or external factors.
• The discovery of the old Mars Bar has sparked a discussion about the 'silly season' in news reporting, where trivial stories receive excessive attention during slow news periods.
• Some commenters have pointed out that the issue of shrinkflation is not unique to Mars Bars, and that other companies have also reduced the size of their products without changing the price.
• There is disagreement about whether the reduction in size is a result of a deliberate attempt to deceive consumers or a genuine response to changing market conditions and consumer preferences.