Yesterday, I made a five-hour drive on I-95 from DC to Carolina. At a gas stop, I was tempted by a sign: 99 cent Icees.
I don’t usually buy that kinda stuff, and I’m more of a Slush Puppie actually, but the intense traffic and heat weakened my defenses.
Inside the store, I couldn’t believe what I saw: The advertised 99-cent option was for the biggest Icee–32 ounces. The smaller ones, which I was leaning towards, all cost more.
This is ridiculous. Just absurd. Americans don’t need any more help becoming obese. And because few folks would pay more for less, the alternative is wasting a portion of the slush drink.
As for the Icee pictured to the right, I’m guessing it goes for 50 cents. And you should see the extra-large!
Because I’m no connoisseur of slush, I don’t know if this price scheme was the gas station’s doing (it was a Pilot) or a common Icee tactic. Two ideas I had during my non-slush-aided drive were to buy the giant size but not fill it all the way or to share it between two (or five) people.
I’d like to say that i didn’t buy an Icee out of protest, but the real reason was that the blue raspberry was out of order. If you’re not getting a blue tongue out of the deal, why bother?
Comments
5 responses to “Priced to Waste”
Well said. Great information, keep up the great work!
I find the same thing at the theater – pay 25 or 30 cents more for more popcorn or pop –
I told them, i wanted the small – they said but for x cents more i can have more. Yes, i responded, but i WONT EAT IT and then i will throw it out.
They seemed confused with that.
I second what Josh said! I would also like to add that I would have never thought that Wasted Food would be such an interesting topic! It did cross my mind in the past not to waste food but I did not think that there would be so many facets to the subject. Your blog has been a real eye-opener! Keep up the good work!
Shorty, but this was pay less for more!
As you might guess, I’m not a big fan of those movie theater enticements. It leads to waste or overeating, as detailed by Brian Wansink’s popcorn experiment in his book, Mindless Eating
. It’s definitely worth reading; Heck, the cover art is a box of popcorn!
the icee is taller than him