Subtle detail in iconic Tim Tam biscuit packaging infuriates fans
An eagle-eyed fan of the cherished Australian biscuit has spotted an interesting difference between its ranges, leaving devotees in a fury.
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Fans of the iconic Australian Arnott’s Tim Tam biscuit have spun into a rage online, after a lover of the chocolate-coated treat shared a subtle detail about the product’s different ranges.
In a photo posted to the Australia reddit forum, two Tim Tam packets — the Original Tim Tam and deluxe range Dark Chocolate Mint — are positioned side-by-side to display their contents.
Despite the plastic packaging being the same length for both packets, the Original pack contains 11 biscuits while the Deluxe pack has just eight.
The revelation sparked fury among lovers of the mouth-watering Aussie indulgence.
But the main cause of concern wasn’t the number of biscuits in each pack, rather the amount of plastic being used in the packaging.
“(It’s) still the same f***ing amount of plastic. That’s the outrage I think: polluting just for the sake of marketing, because they’re afraid a smaller package will sell less,” one viewer commented.
A second agreed: “I was thinking the same thing, stupid amount of plastic for 8 biscuits”.
While others were calling for a “plastic tax”, some explained the reason for the packaging size had to do with marketing.
“It’s not just the smaller pack, it’s also that they want the same size packs in the same size boxes so they look better when stacked or on a shelf,” one person said.
Meanwhile another comment read: “It probably has less to do with marketing than it does with manufacturing and shipping.”
“If everything is designed around a certain package size then it would be far less expensive to reuse that package.”
Both the Original Tim Tam and Double-coated Tim Tam have a net weight of 200 grams per pack, while the Deluxe range contains 25 grams less.
Tim Tam’s chewy caramel and Murray River salted caramel flavours alternatively contain nine biscuits in its packs, while its white chocolate edition has a net weight of 165 grams.
When not on special, retailers stock the non-deluxe range for $4.50, while the Deluxe range is sold for an extra 15 cents.
Other flavours of this range include salted caramel brownie, dark chocolate raspberry tart and decadent triple chocolate.
Another issue disgruntled customers have raised is their anger over how the non-deluxe packets contain an odd number of biscuits.
With the original, double chocolate and dark chocolate flavour packets containing 11 biscuits, consumers say it’s hard to divide them between guests.
“Eleven Tim Tams. Why 11? Not divisible by anything. I can’t eat 1/4 of the packet, or 1/2, so looks like I’m eating the lot,” the most upvoted comment read.
“That is exactly why they chose 11. Say you are sharing between 4 people, can’t do it evenly? Better open another pack,” another person said in response.
“Try one pack of Tim Tam’s between a family of five. Someone usually goes rogue...in the early/late hours to eat the last one,” a third person said.
Tim Tam’s aside, one commenter tried to debate that a move by major supermarket giants to allegedly reduce the thickness of their cakes is worse.
Customers eager to know how many Tim Tam biscuits are in a packet can check the packet’s bottom left corner for its net weight and biscuit contents.
News.com.au has contacted Arnott’s for comment.
Originally published as Subtle detail in iconic Tim Tam biscuit packaging infuriates fans
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