A Walmart customer is contending that some major brands available at the big-box store are more expensive than they’ve been previously.
The before-and-after slide show, shared on TikTok, comes from creator Marie (@thebitchwhoknew), getting more than 56,000 views since going up on Sept. 12. In it, Marie contends, as her caption reads, “Inflation has made many families go on budget.”
She says that for her family of six, it doesn’t make sense to buy the products she highlights in her slide show, assessing that they’re “not nutritious.”
The show starts with a picture of Walmart and a large on-screen caption stating, “Food I don’t buy anymore because it has gotten so expensive and it’s not worth it.”
Then, she does comparisons, starting with Walmart’s own budget brand, Great Value, and its 100% Whole Wheat bread. The creator contends that it used to be 88 cents “before inflation” and is now $1.88.
A 32-ounce bag of General Mills’ Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal was shown on Walmart’s site as $6.77 via the slide show, with Marie noting via overlayed caption, “This was about 5$.”
She then drags Coke, claiming that a 12-pack that was once “about $3.50” is now $7.34.
She finishes with a head of iceberg lettuce, which she says was once 69 cents, now displaying on the site at $1.67.
Marie did not, however, say what the starting point was for the prices she compared to the ones she displayed.
The post came just days before a New York Times columnist David Brooks expressed outrage on X (formerly Twitter)over a $78 airport meal, charging, “This is why Americans think the economy is terrible.”
The Daily Dot’s coverage of the tweet and its clapbacks noted that the burger and fries cost about $17, making the remaining $60-plus tab attributable to the whiskey also featured in the picture (plus possible similar drinks that were not featured in the picture).
Still, though, the tweet highlighted sensitivities over the price of food and how inflation might be affecting that. Some commenters going into Marie’s TikTok reflected that anxiety.
“The soda is literally outrageous,” said one. “I don’t drink soda a lot but now I wouldn’t even buy it.”
“I’m a Great Value girlie now and I’m still struggling,” another confessed.
One commenter contended that a bag of Walmart-branded fries that usually retailed about a dollar rung up on a recent trip at $3, pledging “never again.”
On the whole, though, inflation might not be as bad as this creator was arguing it is. According to a recent Nerdwallet article on the cost of food, “Food prices rose 4.3% between August 2022 and August 2023, according to the most recent consumer price index (CPI) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By comparison, at the same time in 2022 prices rose 10.9% over a one-year period.”
That story also noted, “The index for food at home (groceries) is 3.0% higher year-over-year.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment and to Walmart via email.
