Nobody raised the price. That's the trick — nobody had to.
The cereal box is the same size. The chip bag is still yellow, still crinkles the same way, still costs the same $4.29 it did last year. Open it and something is different: less inside, more air, a bag that used to feel full now feels like a promise that didn't quite arrive.
A price hike triggers outrage. A quieter product doesn't — because outrage needs a number to point at, and there isn't one.
That asymmetry is the whole business model. Shoppers are trained, reasonably, to watch the sticker. Nobody's trained to weigh the box. So the manufacturer gets to make the same margin-protecting move a price increase would — without the backlash a price increase would generate.
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