I always look at unit prices: how much do I get for my dollar? But
that assumes I can use all of it. The manufacturer gets "12oz"
whether I'll be able to get the full 12oz or only 6oz. L'Oreal was
selling lotions where:
these Liquid Cosmetic Product
containers only dispense between as little as 43 percent to 81 percent
of the container's advertised contents. — Critcher
et al. v. L'Oreal
Even though these containers would often dispense less than half of
the advertised volume, L'Oreal won
the case: the law says the amount listed on the container means
the amount in the container, not the amount you'll be able to get out
of the container. But it doesn't have to be that way. What should our
laws say?
We should update our labeling laws to require manufacturers to use the
amount a consumer could reasonably extract. If you have a wide mouth
transparent container with smooth insides, a rubber scraper can get it
all. If you have a narrow mouth squeeze bottle, then only count what
squeezes out. Maybe manufacturers would shift to more efficient
packaging, or maybe consumers would accept higher unit cost [...]
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First published:
March 25th, 2026
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/JCDSYcQnNLZsvvdM8/label-by-usable-volume
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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
