A customer has questions for Nabisco after purchasing a box of Nilla wafers from Walgreens and noticing that the product seems to have dipped in quality from the version we knew and loved in our youth.
In a viral TikTok, Heather (@heatherfishcreations) says she paid $6 for the box of cookies at Walgreens, which she admittedly probably could’ve gotten for less elsewhere. However, she wanted to do a quick trip rather than a whole grocery run for her treat, so she opted for the convenience store instead and paid the higher price.
She assumed the higher price would be matched by the cookies’ quality. However, when she opened the box, she realized she was mistaken.
What’s wrong with these Nilla wafers?
Heather shows viewers a small baking dish filled with 15 wafers. They all look darker and thinner than normal, and many of them are broken in a way that makes it look like a bite has been taken out of them.
“Is this the quality that … we’re getting now for $6?” she questions.
“The price goes up and the quality goes down? And you think I’m joking, but they’re all like that,” she says. She pours the contents of the box into a stainless steel bowl. “Burnt, crooked, crumbly—did these look like the Nilla wafers you guys remember?”
In the caption, she writes, “High price and bad quality is the new norm. Apparently, this is true even for cookies that ‘have been delicious for over 125 years’. What happened @Nabisco?”
‘I practically lived on Nilla wafers as a kid… these are NOT the cookie I grew up with…’
In the comments section, viewers agreed that the cookies Heather received were not up to par, especially compared to the brand’s previous standard.
One viewer said the quality isn’t the only thing that has changed recently. “I remember when that box was like 1.99,” they wrote, which Heather liked.
“I remember almost every cookie was perfect,” a second said.
A third said the new cookies are “also thinner and crispier, harder to chew without soaking in milk. insanity.”
Another viewer shared my thought: “No joke before you said those were actual nilla wafers I thought those were homemade ones gone wrong.”
How much do Nilla wafers typically cost?
It’s not unreasonable for Heather to balk at the price of her wafers. An 11 oz (the size she purchased) box can be gotten for $4.58 at Walmart, $4.79 at Target, and $4.99 from Publix. The same size from Walgreens is $6.29—which is still more than the 15 oz Family Size version Walmart sells for $5.18.
@heatherfishcreations High price and bad quality is the new norm. Apparently, this is true even for cookies that "have been delicious for over 125 years". What happened @Nabisco #nillawafers #nillapucks #badquality ♬ original sound – Heather
Have Nilla wafers gone down in quality?
Customers seem to think so. On a review site, Nilla has a 1.5-star rating based on 38 reviews, with 89% being negative and 11% neutral.
Common complaints were that the cookies are hard, overbaked, broken, and often stale because of the new packaging.
Redditors on the r/shrinkflation sub also complained that the cookies have gotten thinner and smaller.
“Now the regular wafers are indistinguishable from what used to be the mini wafers,” one commenter said.
The Mary Sue reached out to Heather via TikTok comment and direct message. It reached out to Mondelēz International, Nilla’s parent company, via email.
Update July 14: In an email to the Mary Sue, Heather Parsons, 41, said she can’t quite remember where or when she last purchased Nilla wafers, but it was probably at Publix around five or more years ago.
Of that box, she said, “I vaguely remember them not being the same quality as my gramma used to give us. She always had them at her house when we went to visit as kids. But, they weren’t bad enough for me to worry too much about it.”
She said she hasn’t purchased Nilla wafers since she made the video. Nabisco reached out to her on Instagram, but she declined to follow up. She does not intend to buy Nilla wafers in the future.
She added that she’s been on a weight-loss journey during which she completely changed her diet. She has lost over 100lbs by cutting foods like Nilla wafers out of her diet. She purchased the box in the video as a one-time treat.
“So, when I did decide to treat myself with a once-favorite childhood treat, the disappointment in regard to quality shocked me enough to say something online,” she said. “I chose not to follow up with Nabisco, because what would be the point? I have no desire for a coupon, and I’ve lost respect for the company anyway.”
She continued, “I think the hundreds of other complaints on my post about how they have received the same quality is indicative of an issue greater than a simple bad batch. If I decide to treat myself with a rare treat in the future, I’ll probably just make some homemade cookies next time. A company as large and established as Nabisco should not disappoint, and if they do, they are not immune to the natural progression of supply and demand.”
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