Bag of chips started to fill up with more air and less chips, candy bars got smaller, airlines started reducing seat sizes.

The phrase you're looking for is "value engineering."

There are also other factors.

Part of the reason that Pringles cans are mostly air is so that the soap company that makes them can sell fewer chips, but retain the same amount of visual space on the store shelf. The product is the billboard. Some brands pay for that space on the shelf, so they're going to use every bit of it.

▲

inigyou 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Eh? Pringles cans aren't mostly air, except in a technical sense due to the spaces between the chips. They're stacked with chips from top to bottom.

	▲	reaperducer 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Eh? Pringles cans aren't mostly air, except in a technical sense due to the spaces between the chips. Different products in different stores, I guess. Here, and in every other American city I've lived in for the last 20 years, the tall can of Pringles is 50% air. Do a quick web search, and you'll see hundreds of people complaining about it. I once complained to the soap company, and got the expected response: They're sold by weight, not volume. Your posting history indicates that you're not in the United States, so perhaps store shelf space isn't as valuable where you live.