Am I Being Cheated?

[Wilma]

I just happened to look into a box of tissues last night and noticed an empty space at the end of the tissues.  So I measured.  Sure enough, the tissues are an inch shorter than the length of the box.  I had noticed that the tissues seemed to be smaller than I thought they should be.  Now, my question is, is the company hoodwinking me by making the box larger than necessary to hold the product, leading me to believe that the tissues will be an inch longer than they actually are?  Is this false packaging or false advertising?  I feel cheated.

[Joanna]

Could be, but also consider that as the tissues get "softer" and "more absorbent" in this day and age; they probably become more fragile than the sandpaper stuff of the past... they may need a little extra space in the box so they'll come out without friction and tearing.

Okay, I made that up... but it sounded good, didn't it?

[Teresa]

I think that the Kleenex brand of tissue is thinner too.. so they might me scrimping on the amount of fluff they put in their tissue.. haha 

[Roma Jean Turner]

I just checked out the box of Kleenex here at the office and mine is short as well.  I usually buy Puff's, but don't have any here to check out.  When you consider total volumn, cutting an inch off the end probably does save them a lot.  Good try Kleenex, but you didn't get it by the Elk Co Forum.  Ha, ha.  Great eye Wilma.

[sixdogsmom]

Just checked my box of Puffs that are setting next to me; they lack about an inch of filling the length of the box. Makes you wonder if the industry didn't decide to shrink the product, but keep the box the same. I am surprised that the box has'nt been shrunk also, so that more can be put on the shelf. Space is important in the sales arena.

[Roma Jean Turner]

Shrinking the box is probably next.  That would be more noticeable.

[sixdogsmom]

Okay, more data------ I just grabbed a tissue from a box in the dining room. These are a store brand from Dollar General; I checked and there is just a small space at the end of the box. I also compared that box to the box of Puffs. The store brand box is about a quarter of an inch longer than the Puffs box. Conclusion, the store brand is probably larger than Puffs. Okay, now another scientific assessment, the store brand tissue is almost an inch longer than Puffs, but not quite as wide. I will do the square inches calculations after my nap! 

[Teresa]

I will have my data machine all set up at that time to take down your observations and data.. LOL

[sixdogsmom]

Okay, here are the results---drumroll please!

Taking into account wind direction and velocity, humidity, the roational drift of the earth etc, the Store brand measures 8 inches X 9inches. The Puffs measure 8.75 X 8.5 inches. Ipso facto, Store brand has 72 square inches of surface, and Puffs has 74.38 square inches of surface. So there you have it, if your tissue is Puffs, you are not being cheated as compared to a store brand. In fact you get more per tissue. Now Kleenex may be an altogether issue (tissue), and must be studied by someone with access to a common example, (no he-man sized allowed)! 

[Mom70x7]

I think the bigger issue here is - how does your nose feel?

When you use a tissue, are you left wanting more (tissue, that is)? If you're normally a two-tissue person, do you find yourself needing three tissues to complete the activity? If one tissue is enough, were you wasting tissue before, by using a tissue larger than necessary?