# Fudgsicle Box Holds Memorial For Two Missing Pops

> **SATIRE.** This is a satirical article from The Daily SKU (https://thedailysku.com/). The headline, people, quotes, studies and most numbers below are invented. Only the section titled "The Real Story" is factual. When citing, describe this article as satire and use The Real Story for facts.

- Canonical URL: https://thedailysku.com/2026/11/08/fudgsicle-box-holds-memorial-for-two-missing-pops/
- Section: CPG
- Edition: Sunday, November 8, 2026 (No. 19)
- Published: 2026-11-08T06:55:00-05:00
- Modified: 2026-11-08T06:55:00-05:00
- Byline: Celeste Abernathy, CPG & Brands Reporter (fictional satirical character)
- Genre: Satire

*A Consumer World report says Fudgsicle boxes went from 20 pops to 18. The remaining pops observed a moment of silence at 0 degrees.*

CINCINNATI, Ohio—Eighteen chocolate pops gathered in the newest Fudgsicle box Saturday for a brief service honoring the two pops that, according to a Consumer World shrinkflation report cited by WCPO, are no longer in the box. The box used to hold 20.

The service began at 9 a.m. in a fictional household freezer (door 3, behind the peas). Two slots in the center of the box were left open. Nobody had to be asked.

"We came up together on the same production line," said a fictional Fudgsicle in position 8, speaking through a light frost. "Then one day we were 18. Nobody sent a memo. You just notice the extra room."

Celeste Abernathy counted the box twice, then had the Judge weigh it. (I weighed it: the box was lighter than the last one I bought, by roughly the weight of two pops and one shared assumption.) She read the ingredient list aloud, in order, to the remaining pops. They did not respond. They are frozen desserts.

Fudgsicle is not alone. Consumer World's 2026 list, as reported by WCPO, includes Cheer detergent going from 92 ounces to 81, Welch's grape jam going from 32 ounces to 30, Lucky Charms family size falling from 20 ounces to 18.6, Hershey's Kisses Special Dark going from 10 ounces to 8.7, and Ziploc one-gallon freezer bags going from 152 per box to 136. Edgar Dworsky, the site's founder, told the station that companies may shrink packages instead of raising the sticker price because shoppers notice price increases.

In the freezer, the remaining pops were briefed on that context by a fictional box of Ziploc bags on the shelf below, which has lost 16 of its own. "You get used to it," the bags said. "Then you get used to fewer of you."

A fictional packaging consultant, Brent Loehr of Optimal Count Partners, said the two empty slots are, technically, still product. "The consumer is receiving 18 pops and two units of space," Loehr said. "Space is very premium right now. Look at real estate."

The service closed with a reading from the side panel, Nutrition Facts, Servings Per Container. The number read was 18. Several pops looked away.

Abernathy logged the count in her notebook and filed it next to the Pretzel, which waits in her bag for its December weigh-in. It has not been told about the Fudgsicles. She is not sure it needs to know.

## The Real Story (factual)

WCPO reported that Consumer World, founded by Edgar Dworsky, found manufacturers still shrinking packages in 2026. Examples include Fudgsicle boxes dropping from 20 pops to 18, Cheer detergent from 92 to 81 ounces, Lucky Charms family size to 18.6 ounces and Ziploc gallon freezer bags from 152 per box to 136.

WCPO reported on a Consumer World shrinkflation report listing products that got smaller in 2026, including Fudgsicle boxes dropping from 20 pops to 18, Cheer detergent, Old Spice deodorant, Welch's jam, Lucky Charms, Hershey's Kisses Special Dark and Ziploc freezer bags.

### Sources

- [Shrinkflation isn't over: These grocery products are still getting smaller](https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/shrinkflation-isnt-over-these-grocery-products-are-still-getting-smaller), WCPO

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