Once there will be no more digits to use for displaying price per gallon they will be forced to display price per liter as it still could fit

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[–] 98 points 1 week ago (6 children)

The Americans will summon quarts or some other unholy measurement.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 week ago (4 children)

    1 quart = 1.14 litre. Price per quart will be lower than price per litre, so you're definitely correct. If it was the other way around I'd say there could be some wiggle room for the marketing benefit, but alas that is not the case.

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  • [–] 50 points 1 week ago (20 children)

    This would literally work. If one station has $9.49 (/gal) on its sign and the station across the street is $3.79 (/L), there are absolutely enough dumb Americans who will line up for the more expensive gas with the lower number.

    A&W nearly went bankrupt because Americans couldn't figure out that 1/3lb is more than 1/4lb. This is a good idea.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 week ago (19 children)

    A&W nearly went bankrupt because Americans couldn't figure out that 1/3lb is more than 1/4lb.

    Myth.

    Anyone who had their 1/3lb burger knows why A&W nearly went bankrupt, and it had nothing to do with the size of the patty.

    It was easily the worst burger I've ever experienced.

    "Americans don't understand fractions" is the marketing they used to save face. The reality is that they didn't have any repeat customers.

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  • [–] 18 points 1 week ago (14 children)

    The firm eventually conducted a focus group to discover the truth: participants were concerned about the price of the burger. "Why should we pay the same amount for a third of a pound of meat as we do for a quarter-pound of meat?" they asked.

    It turns out the majority of participants incorrectly believed one-third of a pound was actually smaller than a quarter of a pound.

    https://awrestaurants.com/blog/memories-history/the-truth-about-aws-third-pound-burger-and-the-major-math-mix-up/

    They didn't almost go bankrupt, but yes they did have a focus group where the majority of people did not understand fractions.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago

    That literally only comes from A&W themselves, and the first mention of it was in the memoir of the former CEO at the time.

    After he released his memoir trying to rehabilitate his image after being released from prison for fraud.

    Not exactly a reliable account. There are zero other sources for the myth than the chain itself.

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  • [–] 23 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    they'll just tape 1 in front of display

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  • [–] 23 points 1 week ago

    This would be funny af

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  • [–] 21 points 1 week ago (3 children)

    Is this gonna be like that time Americans didn't buy the 1/3lb burger from Burger King because they thought the 1/4lber from McDonald's was bigger. As an American myself, and a teacher for over a decade, people are legitimately retarded. I'm surprised shoes with laces is still the norm TBH.

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    [–] 20 points 1 week ago* (4 children)

    Many US gas stations switched to liters for a while during the original "gas crisis" in the 70s. One crooked station near my house switched to liters without saying so - they simply covered or removed "gal" on the price signs, so they said like $0.85 with no units, so the price for a gallon was over $4. To further hide it, when customers asked to fill the tank the attendants only put in about a quarter tank, so the price would be realistic for a fillup measured in gallons. It pissed off one guy so much he stood in front of the place for about a month with a ginormous sign that said "BUYER BEWARE! REG OVER $4/GAL".

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  • [–] 14 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Naw, just post like 10.2... the exact pennies doesn't matter really. It would get printed on the receipt still, but doesn't need to be displayed everywhere.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 week ago
    [–] 8 points 1 week ago (4 children)

    Liters are communist.

    We're switching to pints!

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    [–] 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    Get your subscription to gas today!

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  • [–] 8 points 1 week ago

    The death throes of an empire. Dangerous thing, that.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 week ago (8 children)

    I thought about this too while I was filling up my tank yesterday, but I think they would just switch to quarts since that is just 1/4 of a gallon

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  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago (6 children)

    That's right. Europe uses liters because that's their biggest liquid measurement. Ours is gallons, so we'll just split that by 4. You think MAGAs are going to go along with switching to a foreign commie system for our beautiful American gas?

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    [–] 7 points 1 week ago

    Lol I can see the boomer tantrums now

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  • [–] 7 points 1 week ago

    More likely, the last cent digit will just drop because it isn't significant (rounding up of course, don't want to miss an opportunity to squeeze even more!).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Significant_figures

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  • [–] 7 points 1 week ago

    jesse, what the fuc are you talking about??

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  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago

    Nah, we'll do it by a metric we're much more familiar with - 2 liters.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago (1 child)
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    [–] 4 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    In the 70's when gas broke $1.00 per gallon and most pumps couldn't handle it, they just set the pumps to half the price and charged double that when you went in to pay. Pump would say $5 and you paid $10. That would be a lot harder today since rarely are people paying inside.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago

    I want a liter of cola with my burger, and hold the spit.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago

    It's a hypocritical gambit that works both ways. Here in Canada we are 'metric' but in our grocery stores we label meat for sale 'by the pound' because it looks cheaper on the label.

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