People often fail to notice the finer points, particularly when it comes to commonplace things, in a world where options seem to be unlimited. The conflict between the spice business heavyweight McCormick & Co. and the relative upstart Watkins Inc. is one such situation that has lately gained attention. Their ground pepper tin sizes are the point of controversy.
A Catch-22 for Pepper Tins
The famous spice company McCormick is under fire after allegations surfaced that they cut the amount of pepper in their tins by a whopping 25%. Just to give you an idea, their tins used to carry around 8 ounces of pepper, but now they only held about 6 ounces. Concerned that McCormick may have used a misleading marketing strategy to inflate their pepper sales per tin, Watkins Inc. has sounded the alarm.
The disparity in the advertising approaches used by the two firms has been highlighted by this case. When it comes to pepper, McCormick uses opaque containers that hide the amount, whereas Watkins uses smaller containers that hold the same amount. Deceptive and in violation of consumer protection regulations, according to Watkins, are McCormick’s tactics.
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