Products are legally required to contain the quantity listed on the packaging. But as some famous cases have illustrated, that isn’t always the case. A Walmart shopper recently said she discovered that a popular air freshener may not contain the amount advertised.
Late last week, Lita (@c.litaglam) highlighted her find in a post on TikTok. In the now-viral video, Lita uses her phone’s flashlight to shine light through cans of Febreze for sale at Walmart.
“You’re paying $4 for barely half a can. Both of them, half the can,” she says. “Half the can. And you want me to pay all that money.”
A text overlay on her video reads, “They playing in y’all face and taking ya money.”
The flashlight does show that there’s only liquid in about half the can of Febreze’s Georgia peach orchard scented air mist Lita picks up.
However, is this deceptive marketing or is there a reasonable explanation? The vast majority of the most-liked comments say that there’s nothing nefarious about the “missing” Febreze—nor is any Febreze missing. Rather, they say, the explanation is purely scientific.
Procter & Gamble, which manufactures Febreze, didn’t respond to an email sent Monday morning.
Are the cans half-empty at Walmart?
Unlike the old school Febreze that uses a pump spray, the cans Lita picked up are aerosol.
Pump sprays rely on the force of the user pressing the pump to project the liquid out of the nozzle. Aerosols, on the other hand, use a pressurized gas to propel the product out when you press the button.
This changes the way the respective pumps release product. A pump spray squirts, while an aerosol mists. Many people prefer aerosols to scent a space because the fragrance particles hover in the air longer. Pump spray air fresheners, on the other hand, are widely viewed as better at improving the odor of fabrics and surfaces.
The difference in propulsion method is also why the cans Lita picks up in the TikTok appear to be half-“empty” when they should (and likely are) full of a combination of fragrance and pressurized gas. Without that pressurized gas, which is invisible like air, the aerosol wouldn’t spray.
People wasted no time coming to Febreze’s defense.
“There has to be room for air pressure, which causes the can to spray,” one of the top comments says.
Another explained, “Hate the break it to yall but yall paying for the oz. The oz on the bottle 100 percent match what’s in there.”
@c.litaglam @Febreze ♬ original sound – C?Lita Glam
It’s understandable that a person may wonder why there’s so much empty space in that can of Febreze at Walmart. But the explanation is simple: it’s gas.
Lita didn’t respond to a TikTok comment sent Monday morning.
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