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Georg Wendt

A pressing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/06/01/package-sizes-shrink-inflation/" target=_blank>economic issue</a> is hitting close to home for a certain googly-eyed Muppet with a big appetite: Cookie Monster says his favorite snack is shrinking — and he’s not happy about it.

“Me hate shrinkflation! Me cookies are getting smaller,” the moppy-haired “Sesame Street” character <a href="https://twitter.com/MeCookieMonster/status/1764692032914690276" target=_blank>asserted</a> on social media Monday, garnering the attention of several U.S. senators and even the White House.

Shrinkflation, a cost-cutting measure by which companies subtly reduce the quantity of their product without changing the price, might seem like an advanced concept for a children’s television puppet. But “Sesame Street” watchers aren’t surprised to see a Muppet take up a contemporary cause, and Cookie Monster’s account has often gone beyond singalongs. Striking a tone that sounds more like an internet-savvy millennial, Cookie Monster has appeared to post about <a href="https://twitter.com/MeCookieMonster/status/1593687924826161155" target=_blank>Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter</a>, has spoken about <a href="https://twitter.com/MeCookieMonster/status/1153769182816813056" target=_blank>therapy</a> and has endorsed <a href="https://twitter.com/MeCookieMonster/status/1080510119912316929" target=_blank>self-care</a>.

Fellow Muppet Elmo also had a viral moment in January, when he <a href="https://twitter.com/elmo/status/1751995117366296904?s=20" target="_blank">asked</a> how everyone was doing and, well, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/01/30/elmo-checking-in-social-media/" target="_blank">they weren’t great.</a> Celebrities, news outlets, ordinary people and other Muppets responded, many adding to a chorus of dread and despair.

A number of political leaders have weighed in on the <a href="https://twitter.com/MeCookieMonster/status/1615414273248792584" target=_blank>om nom nomming</a> monster’s cause. As it turns out, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye8mB6VsUHw" target=_blank>C is not just for cookie</a> — it’s also “for consumers getting ripped off,” the White House <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1764765909485298066" target=_blank>wrote</a> in response to the post on X Monday.

“President Biden is calling on companies to put a stop to shrinkflation,” it added.

Senators <a href="https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/1764710891851801015" target=_blank>Elizabeth Warren</a> (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) also responded.

“People in my state of Ohio are fed up — they should get all the cookie they pay for,” Brown <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSherrodBrown/status/1764699382828380318" target=_blank>said</a>.

Van Hollen <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisVanHollen/status/1764821636149092595" target=_blank>wrote</a> that “greedy corporations” are reducing the size of many products. “We’re working to stop them — no one should be getting richer off smaller cookies!” he said.

Ways to spot and combat ‘shrinkflation’ as grocery bills soar

According to a December 2023 <a href="https://www.casey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/shrinkflation_report.pdf" target=_blank>report</a> from Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), snacks such as Oreos and Doritos have become 26.4 percent more expensive since January 2019, and 9.8 percent of that price increase “has been accomplished by giving families fewer chips and cookies for their dollar.” Data shared by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis show that chocolate-chip cookie prices <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000702421" target=_blank>rose</a> more than 25 percent between March 2022 and March 2023, and still remain high.

Other products such as paper towels and cereal <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-12/measuring-shrinkflation-and-its-impact-on-inflation.htm" target="_blank">have also faced</a> shrinkflation.

“Sesame Street” watchers say Cookie Monster’s advocacy reflects the nature of the long-running show, which has often taken up contemporary themes.

“Cookie Monster’s tweet fits into the way ‘Sesame Street’ has regularly winked at adult issues of the day while keeping its main curriculum focused on young children,” Sherman Dorn, a professor at Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College of Arizona State University who has researched “Sesame Street,” wrote in an email.

Abby Whitaker, a PhD candidate at Temple University who studies the history of the show, said that “politicians have long looked to ‘Sesame Street’ as a partner and even a model for liberal politics,” thinking of it as a complement to the government’s <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohs/about/history-head-start" target=_blank>efforts to tackle poverty</a> in the 1960s, the decade the show began. They have also partnered with the show to target parents and children with messages on obesity, military deployment and covid-19, she said in an email interview.

At times, this approach has sparked ire among conservatives, such as when Ted Cruz <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/29/ted-cruz-elmo-sesame-street-covid-vaccine/" target=_blank>attacked</a> Big Bird and, later, Elmo for getting a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/coronavirus/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">coronavirus</a> vaccine.

“Politicians know the show represents a very approachable vision of liberal politics, while also having popular appeal that is driven by nostalgia,” Whitaker said.

But not all is serious. Cookie Monster practically shrugged in a follow-up to his post on shrinkflation, saying, “Guess me going to have to eat double da cookies!”

Columbia University, BA in art history and psychology, 2018

Kelsey Ables is a reporter at The Washington Post's Seoul hub, where she covers breaking news in the United States and across the world. She was previously on the Features desk, where she wrote about art, architecture and pop culture. 

Kelsey Ables

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Cookie Monster’s ‘shrinkflation’ woes get White House response

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