Forrest Gump would be devastated if he still compared life to a box of chocolates in this day and age. Why? Corporations are now heavily relying on slack-fill, a tactic where manufacturers use excess packaging to make it seem like there is more product than there really is.

Last year, we heard all about "shrinkflation" (the act of making products slightly smaller at the same price as the original to fight inflation) and now we are working with the legality of slack-fill.

According to the law, slack-fill is illegal. However, corporations are side-stepping lawsuits by claiming their packaging helps protect their product while in transit.

Let's do the math: a standard box of Valentine's Day chocolates is roughly 10" x 10" with an average of 11 chocolates inside measure approximately 1" x 1". Not even including the plastic heart-shaped tray the chocolates are housed in, this means that the ratio of chocolate to packaging is less than 50%.

Maybe this year, consider giving your Valentine a little more bang for your buck.

Thanks for the box of air, Russell Stover.