The Quilted Northern Bathroom Tissue Conspiracy

Northern on left, Costco's Kirkland brand handful on the right

Marketing's not so secret secret gimmick. Quietly and slowly reduce the size/quantity of what the assholes buy but keep the price the same. Hope the rubes don't notice and reap the benefits of eliminating excess outlay.
All of a sudden what I used to think was a fairly good deal - the large package of Northern buttwipe in double thickness - is now a cheap gimmick that disintegrates in comparison to what Costco has to offer. A backdoor cost cutting consumer squeeze that's a stain on the company.

Similar to, but not directly related to the Perplexing Diminished Cat Food Bag Phenomena

4 pounds
some indecipherable metric number
3.5 pounds