First, they came for our potato chip bags. Then, they came for our cleaning products. Now, “Shrinkflation” has come for our menstrual products. Shrinkgate 2024 involves allegations that tampon makers Tampax are the latest company to charge users more while giving us less. TikTokers and Redditers have been sharing comparison images of tampons to illustrate that Tampax has been making tampons smaller while still labeling them as the same size. Of course, Tampax denies shrinking the size of their tampons using some sketchy language about adhering to “industry absorbency” standards. What a time to be alive.
Tampon brand Tampax has not shrunk the size of their menstrual products, the brand confirms to PEOPLE after a TikTok video has racked up millions of views claiming the opposite. In the video from April, which currently has 2.4 million views, user Melissa Simonson claims that the sizes that the brand advertises are no longer accurate “because you shrunk them.” Simonson makes videos about marketing on her TikTok page, which has 24.9K followers.
Users on Reddit have also accused the brand of shrinking their sizes and packaging. One Reddit post includes a photo that compared two, regular-sized Tampax Pearl tampons (Simonson also includes this image in her TikTok video). A spokesperson at Procter & Gamble, Tampax’s parent company tells PEOPLE in a statement, however, that the brand has not changed the size of its tampons.
“Tampons are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and adhere to industry absorbency or size ranges as listed on the side of each package,” the spokesperson says. “The FDA absorbency ranges have not changed since its introduction more than 30 years ago.”
According to the Federal Register, the official journal of the federal government, in 1989, the FDA published a rule amending tampon labeling regulation which standardized the absorbency terms and sizes. They are: junior (less that 6 grams of fluid), regular (6-9 grams of fluid), super (9-12 grams of fluid) and super plus (12-15 grams of fluid). An ultra tampon absorbency size (15-19 grams of fluid) was added in 2000, and junior was re-labeled as light in 2004.
Per the 2004 rule document, the “FDA requires standardized terms to be used for the labeling of a menstrual tampon to indicate its particular absorbency. This rule enables women to compare the absorbency of one brand and style of tampons with the absorbency of other brands and styles.”
Tampax manufactures Tampax Pearl, Tampax Radiant, Tampax Pocket Radiant, cardboard and pure cotton tampons. The tampon rumor comes as many American consumers are concerned about a trend commonly known as “shrinkflation.” The New York Times recently reported that shrinkflation contributed to price increases on candy and cleaning products between 2019 and 2023.
The problem has become so rampant that President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass a bill addressing this issue. In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) in March, the White House called out corporations that “raise their prices to pad their profits – charging you more and more for less and less.”
Yeah, so after looking at the images on Reddit and reading Tampax’s statement, it sounds to me like they’re not so much denying that they’ve shrunk their tampons but rather getting technical about still adhering to industry standards, which “have not changed.” Tampax is basically telling people to reject the evidence of their eyes and ears. Since they’re trying to address junk fees and issues within the airline industry, I really hope Dark Brandon can get Congress to take up the issue of Shrinkflation. We’re all paying more for less. Feels like that’s a unifying issue with massive public support to me! Shrinkflation in general is truly infuriating, and out of all of the things to mess with, why am I not surprised that feminine hygiene products are on the list. They are expensive and in my state, taxed at 4.75% because they are considered “non-essential goods.” And while I’m at it, I’ll throw it out there that period poverty really should be addressed nationwide.
Header image credit: u/Ready_Protection5682 on Reddit, other images are screenshots from YouTube video of a Tampax commercial