Are Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Smaller? An Investigative Journalism Piece
Saturday, Jun 18th, 2011I have long suspected that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups have gotten smaller. As a wee-lad, it took as much as three whole bites to finish a cup. Now one bite feels all too natural, and I really have to go out of my way to experience a Reese’s Cup in two bites. To be fair I got bigger and that might account for their getting smaller.
Still I’ve never been suspicious of other popular chocolate brands like Snickers or Hershey’s, only Reese’s. It’s really been a longstanding mystery. One I contemplate every time I finish a pack of peanut butter cups. Somehow I always feel there should be more in there.
Last night, I decided to investigate the matter of the mysteriously shrinking peanut butter cups. Like anyone with a degree in journalism would do, I Googled it. What I found was both horrifying and shocking. In a word … horri-shocking.
Turns out the nefarious Hershey Foods Corporation [1] has been duping consumers for years. The cup size has changed, yet we’re paying the same price.
The Evidence
Exhibit A.
The above image is of a Reese’s wrapper purchased in 2003. Note the old Reese’s tagline, “There’s No Wrong Way To Eat A Reese’s.” Also note, utilizing my advanced image manipulation skills, I’ve circled the net weight in ounces and grams.
Exhibit B.
The above image is of a Reese’s wrapper purchased more recently, featuring the new orange swirl design and the current tagline “Get Lost In A Reese’s.”
If you compare the net weight with the wrapper from 03, you’ll see that there’s a three gram difference. Less carbs, less fat and less protein. 20 calories less.
So now you know, the peanut butter cups are smaller. As if Mini Reese’s and Reese’s Pieces weren’t insulting enough. Soon the same wisecrack that came up with the “fun” size will have the idea of selling powdered Reese’s. But we’re Americans I say, not Chinamen. Sell us bigger things, diametrically proportionate to our waistlines.
In case I win a Pulitzer for this groundbreaking investigative piece, I’d like to cover all my ground here and attribute the images. I found the images via Google on the website of a candy enthusiast who, for whatever reason, has scanned in the wrappers of every candy he has eaten in the last ten years. He also has a blog about candy wrappers. Not about candy, exclusively candy wrappers. I guess there’s a niche for everything these days.
1/27/12 Update – It looks like I spoke to soon.
- [1] In recent years, the Hershey Foods Corporation was renamed to The Hershey Company which some clever lawyers and brand marketers deemed less nefarious-sounding. ↩
It’s 2011. I just bought a package of Halloween candy that had individual Reese’s as one of the candies. In past years they’ve been the sames size, or slightly smaller, than the normal two packaged Reese’s. However, this year they are PUNY!!! They are the size of a 50 cent piece! I couldn’t believe it! The bag of chocolates cost me over $15.00 at Party City. …Times are changing. Have you looked at tuna, orange juice, or a number of grocery items lately? Same size container, fewer ounces… SAME price. Everything is getting smaller but we’re paying the same amount of money – sometimes MORE. Inflation SUCKS!!!!!
Thank you for posting this. I too recently saw the PUNY little cups and couldn’t believe my eyes. Your posting confirmed that I wasn’t crazy. I’m mad! I want my full sized chocolate and peanut butter heaven.
The individually wrapped, “full size” cups are now .55 ounces. I would bet that a “fun size” cup from the late 70′s would be about the same size. Long live the bean-counters!
Keep in mind that the wrapper size has stayed the same in the multi-packs that have the .55 oz cups too. Just opened one tonight & was astounded to see how small they were – they take up 3/4 of the paper bottom when they used to touch the entire edge. Nice how they didn’t shrink the wrapper to fit too.
So glad to see others felt the same way, we’ve been discussing how poor the candy was this year. The taste is so not the same and it’s ultra small. I’d rather have Seee’s candies. Taste that and you’ll never want a Reeses again! C’mon Reeses, you can do better!
Loved your piece on RPBC, was wondering if you were able to find images from an ’80 package?
[...] to which we have a right. The blog Dead Caterpillar has done the research and has proved that, yes, Reese’s Cups, over the past ten years, have gotten significantly smaller. The [...]
Thank you for posting this tragedy! I bought Reese’s Cups today, I was craving them. As I opened the package and unwrapped the brown goodness, I unveiled something munchkin-like. Truly, I thought I was going nuts. First, I thought maybe these peanut butter yummies seem much smaller because of my affection for them since I was a kid. But, reality set in … I damn well know I had many Reese’s Cups since my adolescence. Devastation set in. Everything is becoming far more clear now. No wonder I can’t figure out where all my money is going and I’m more broke than I’ve ever been in my life. Companies are screwing us! I KNEW I wasn’t crazy when I picked up that Fruit Loops box and it seemed half the size than I’m used to. We should be warned on the boxes about this and notified that the normal size has been reduced! Why can’t some smart-ass attorney start some class action law suit about this! It’s an outrage!!!! Looks like Capitalism has no ethical standards.
Ok. FIRST they not only have made the cups SMALLER…BUT…Only a few months ago you got 8 cups in a package for $1. Frequently on sale for that, but even when not about 1.25. THEN they cut the package to 6 cups for the SAME price, but added the new 12 cup long package for 1.78 Walmart. STILL….the cups are tiny!! Might as well just buy the store brand miniature cups. They used to be a decent buy for the price. I just bought my LAST Reese’s package. Screwing people over to increase profit when times are rough is just plain evil. Leave my chocolate only….or someone is going to get hurt.
There are many products that have been made smaller, like wagon wheels and ice-cream bars, and there are hardly any chips in a bag. It’s sad the way we are getting ripped off. Take for instance Oreo Cookies. A several years back they decreased the amount of icing that was in the middle, then a couple of years later they come out with “double stuffed” Oreos hoping that we will all think that we are getting something extra special. They have the same amount of icing that they did originally! They must think that we as consumers are all stupid.
Yes, everything from a half-gallon of ice cream (now 1.5 quarts in a package designed to look big) to candy is being quietly and deceptively downsized. I think most people would rather pay more and get the size of product they’re expecting. I know I would.
I have a wrapper from the 80′s, I think its from ’87 or ’88. They used to be 1.8 ounces or 51.03 grams on that wrapper.
Yea they are deceiving us all the way around, i just paid for a “LARGE SIZE” reese’s with 3 cups in it and it was 59g barely larger than the original size package. so they make the original smaller and you pay mor than they start selling you a “Large Size” for even more money and its the size you normally would have bought.
Shame on you greedy corporate swindlers.
I often think on the same issues! The 2003 wrapper was after a size reduction in cup size also. I distinctly remember opening a cup wrapper and thinking, “Wow…they shrank these things! That stinks!”. Today, I opened a cup, observed an obvious and abhorrent size difference, and the same thought crossed my mind. The next thing to research…”King Size.” A king size Hershey bar is NOT what it used to be! Manufacturers do the opposite with women’s sizes…making larger clothes and telling women they’re only a size 4!
ok so im from canada and was thinking the samething the pack i just ate while reading this article has three small cups with a weight of 46 grams and the pics were a pack of TWO cups weighing in at 46 grams smaller cups but more and same weight THANK YOU THAT IS ALL
I found this post while eating a reese’s researching that very question. My wrapper says .55oz, 15g. Got it in a 12 pack from walmart. *sigh*
Reese’s cups used to be sold singly, wrapped in coated paper. I used to sell them for 5 cents each from 1968-1972. The cup size was 1 oz then. After a large temporary sugar price spike in 1974, the cups shrank to 3/4 oz.
Well, I just opened a single wrapped Reeses Cup that someone put out at work to celebrate Halloween. It is 0.75oz (21g)!!
I feel kinda lucky
I just opened a 3 pack of Reese peanut butter cups – October 19, 2012. 3 cups are 46 g… So looking back at those photos where 2 cups were 45 g then 42 g this new size of 3 = 46 g is PATHETIC. But maybe it’s in part because we as consumers are so concerned about the amount of calories in a portion… so if they make the portions smaller the perception is there is now less fat and calories in what I’m eating. Yet again, either they think we are stupid, or we truly are
you guys are still lucky im in london, uk here just bought 3 pack and total is 51g for all three! seriously and its 70p so thats like over a dollar i would say…
You’re lucky in London then, becasue its on its way to $2 in Canada and its 40g for 3 here. The cup is size has gotten ridiculously small.
I’m from Canada and I just bought a 3-pack of Reese peanut butter cups (3 cups = 46 grams) . I have to agree with HEXXUSS above… The cup size is 3/4 the width of the paper carton inside the wrapper when before the cup size used to be as wide at the top op the cup as the paper carton was. THIS IS ABSURD. This is truly a disappointment and I will not be buying this product again.
SCREW YOU HERSHEY. Quit cutting down the portion sizes…
So glad Mike the 60-70s candy seller chimed in! My mom (born in 1956) has been saying for years that the cups were so much bigger when she was a kid. Now I can say there’s actually more word of mouth evidence to back her up. I also bought her one of the giant 1 pound double packs for Christmas so I can tell her I had them shipped from the past
I have recently noticed that the amount of chocolate seems to have dwindled, and the amount of peanut butter filling seems to have increased. Anyone else think this? I noticed they did not taste the same as I remembered, and breaking one in have it looks obvious to me.
1.8 ounces in the 1980′s. We’re totally ripped off now.
I do feel a little better reading this. I thought I was just a fat ass who craved more candy than the average person. Here I just crave the same amount I’m used to, they’re just playing mind games with us. I’d boycott it if I wasn’t so damn addicted to chocolate. Damn you candy companies and your ultra addictive chocolaty treats calling my name like the sirens song! How can I resist you? I can not ( .. )
I’m so glad I’m not alone! When I opened up the package today and saw this Reese’s PB cup, I said to myself I have GOT to check in to this size. I’m so glad this investigative piece was done. After many years of dedicated RPB cup popping, we deserve more than a shrunk product. This looks like it has class action law suit written all over it!
I’m with Mark, as per above. That 3-pack @ 46 grams was a big let down today that landed me here. Shame on you Hershey!
After buying junk food for the rest of the family, I decided to buy the 12-pack for me and not share (my favorite candy from childhood). LOL! Man! These ARE small. So small, I also had to find out what’s going on. Mike, I could have been one of your customers…I stopped everyday on way home from school to buy a RPBC. A double pack if I was rich enough and had a dime.
And Mapandya, I caught on a long time ago, clothing sizes changed. I started buying used 80′s jeans from Ebay ’cause I know what fits me!
Today I purchased a 3-pack in Toronto, Ontario. Net weight – 46g for THREE CUPS! The madness continues!
Ana in Vancouver Canada here -
Today I got the craving. Bought a three pack and excitedly delved into the peanut buttery goodness….But hold the phone! As the first cup fell out of the package and into my hand I was shocked at it’s tiny nature! What is this, I thought to myself? Have I gotten bigger or has the pb cup gotten smaller?
I too had to investigate. Google. This piece. My madness is validated. I checked the package and discovered 46 Grams for THREE cups!
This cannot be allowed!! Let’s band together and write a petition in protest to Hersheys. Anyone?
So today a marketer comes in and brings a six pack of the snack size reeses. I get so excited cause I eat the edges then the top then the bottom. Well I unwrap it and long and behold it is a bite size. I tried to eat just the sides like I normally do, but almost ate my finger. Geez, I just wanted a reese cup. At least the reese eggs still taste good and are not that small.
It has apparently worsened since you blew the Reeses’s-gate story wide-open: I just bought a king-size pack, with four cups. At 2.8 ounces, it’s .7 ounces per cup, for a two-cup-pack equivalence of only 1.4 ounces.
At this rate, I expect a cup to be a speck unidentifiable to the nake eye by 2048.
It’s a sad sad day when you realize that not only is the world getting crazier by the day, and more greedy, and more expensive, and your freedoms seem to be fewer as well…. but to come to find out that my all-time favorite treat in all the world has been included in the corporate greed party and been shrunk is just a travesty!
I too scoured the net looking for wrappers to compare old to new and found one posted from 1981 which showed 1.6 oz. or net weight of 45.36g. I’m without words… though I have many choice words in my head for the greedy b@stards that decided to do this, I’ll just hold my tongue on here and boycott in my own way, by never buying another Reese’s PB Cup… ever. I know, it’s a long shot, but dammit I’m mad and there are plenty of other delectable treats out there to munch on that haven’t shrunk!
I also plan on writing to them and letting them know I’m ticked off. I encourage everyone to do the same… stop buying them, write to them, start a Facebook Page for jilted PB Cup lovers, something. With enough voices these days, ANYthing is possible. Let’s let them know that this is NOT OK! Let’s go viral!
WE WANT OUR BIG PB CUPS BACK YOU GREEDY SOB’S!! >:-|
I just hopped online to double-check I’m not crazy — found this post — then sent an email to Hershey’s swearing I’ll never buy another RBPC. You can do it too!
https://www.thehersheycompany.com/contact-us.aspx
Just bought a pack (CDN) and the cup size made me look this up. The current package I have is 46g for 3 cups. The link to that guy Mike’s page above shows a CDN wrapper from 2003 with 52g. So, we’re down 6g and the price is up a dime. How do we communicate this to Hersey/Reese?
According to Wikipedia the sizes vary based on which package you buy:
In the United States, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups typically come in two-, four-, and eight-packs in distinctive orange packaging, set on thin but rigid paperboard trays. The “Classic” two-pack is a .75 oz. cup, the “King Size” four-pack is a .70 oz. cup and the “Lunch” eight-pack is a .55 oz. cup. “Large Size” packs of three .70 oz. cups are also available.
My friend posted on facebook that the CUPS were smaller and has used your article as confirmation. I too was dooped by Hersey. I don’t eat enough Cups for the difference to be felt and since the change haven’t been robbed enough to deserve a whole cup but whatever…LOL LOL
I knew my Reeses looked small just today. Funny there is a thread about this problem. I think the problem is global. More and more companies are not really increasing the price of candy, but the portion size is getting smaller. We think were paying for the same thing but were actually paying for less.
Well, they did it again. They are now so small they look like bag candy. The eight pack used to be a good value. Not so anymore as 1 cup looks ridiculously small. If they had just raised the price I would have paid it but now I won’t be buying. So long pb cups.