Shrinkflation
This C1 lesson is about shrinkflation, money, and the sneaky ways companies reduce product sizes without lowering prices. Students watch a video, learn vocabulary like “pull a fast one,” “recoup costs,” and “bang for the buck,” and create their own marketing slogans for shrunken products. It works well with classes that enjoy consumer topics and have strong opinions about being ripped off.
Lesson overview
- Learn 12 vocabulary items related to deceptive business practices and consumer rights
- Watch a video comparing shrinkflation and skimpflation and summarize the key ideas
- Practice restructuring sentences using new vocabulary in context
- Discuss real examples from Reddit and create marketing slogans for shrinking products
Student's Version (Light/Dark)
Teacher's Version (Answer Keys)
Printable Classroom Version (A4)
| Level | Vocabulary | Video Length | Lesson Time |
| C1 / Advanced | 12 words | 5:55 min | 60-90 min |
Vocabulary
- underhand tactic
- opt for
- recoup costs
- fruitful
- rake in the profit
- caught up with life
- indentation
- compulsory
- fume
- pull a fast one
- bang for the buck
- call out on social media
Contents
- Lead-in
- Questions
- Vocabulary guessing
- Definitions
- Video
- Summary
- Comments
- Vocabulary practice
- Portmanteau words
- Discussion
- Marketing spin
Start with the chocolate bar comparison on slide 2. Students try to spot which bar is smallest, which is harder than it looks. This leads naturally into the lead-in questions on slide 3, where you introduce the word “shrinkflation.” Most C1 students have noticed this happening but may not know the English term. Question 4, about industries where shrinkflation could be dangerous, usually gets interesting answers like medicine or construction materials.
The vocabulary section on slides 4 through 6 has 12 items. Slide 4 is set up as a guessing game where students read descriptions and try to figure out the word before checking the answers. This works better than just handing them definitions because it gets them thinking about meaning first. Spend extra time on “pull a fast one” and “underhand tactic” since these come up again later and are useful beyond this lesson.
Play the video on slide 7. It runs about six minutes and covers both shrinkflation and skimpflation. Have students explain the difference between the two after watching, then fill in the summary chart on slide 8. The comments section on slide 9 gives students a chance to react before moving into the sentence restructuring practice on slides 10 and 11. These exercises are demanding because students rewrite full sentences using the target vocabulary, not just fill in blanks.
The portmanteau activity on slide 12 is a nice change of pace. Students match word halves to form blends like “mocktail” and “guesstimate,” then try to create their own. Wrap up with the Reddit browsing activity on slide 13 and the marketing spin task on slide 14. Students pick a product, imagine their company is about to shrink it, and write a slogan that makes it sound like a positive change. This always gets laughs and gives advanced learners a chance to play with tone and persuasion.
