On sale, or perhaps “sale”, at the front of Hy-Vee recently was a new type of M&M’s bag. It was sealable at the top — which makes it harder to store small-side-down — and it was a different size than what’s been around recently. After buying a couple packages I took a closer look. “Formerly Medium,” it said in small print. Oh, really? Well, I just happen to have a “medium” bag around…
Closer.
This is grade-A BS. It’s not “formerly” anything, it’s a redesigned package — which is more often than not a flashing red warning that the quantity has decreased. What’s worse, the “10% more” Medium is an increase from an 11.4 ounce bag seen here, but it’s 10% LESS than the 14-ounce bag once also billed as “medium”. All of them, of course, are smaller than the legendary Pounder. (That’s an older picture since M&M’s got rid of the “Plain” name in 2000, but the Pounder lasted longer than that.)
This is as underhanded as the Mike&Ike “breakup” that disguised the reduction of the theater-size box from 6 ounces to 5. The M&M’s packaging lineup is being changed, and what we’re being sold is smaller.