The consumer group Choice has announced its annual Shonky Awards, naming the companies and products it considers the worst rip-offs of the year. The awards, presented in Sydney, aim to highlight dodgy practices and encourage businesses to improve. This year’s winners span kitchen products, hair care, and airline fees.
Among the products singled out was a liquid stock product that Choice said was essentially stock cubes with water added. Hair products with extravagant marketing but little effect also made the list, including one that used a made-up word, “nutrilliam,” on its label. A food processor that failed to grate cheese and instead chewed through its own plastic components was also criticized.
Choice condemned breakfast cereal manufacturers for product shrinkage, where packaging remains the same size but contents are reduced. For example, Uncle Toby’s oat crisp honey cereal now contains 14% less product while the box appears unchanged. The group described this as a sneaky practice that deceives consumers.
The harshest criticism was reserved for airlines. Tiger Airways was called out for a credit-card surcharge of $6 per passenger per sector, which can amount to a 21% surcharge on cheap fares. Qantas was also named for its $7.70 credit-card surcharge, which Choice argued is excessive given that card companies typically charge merchants about 1%. Choice noted that Qantas claimed to be losing money despite these charges, calling the practice unbelievable.
