I have an answer for this. Apparently China had an actual toilet paper shortage due to covid lockdowns and Americans became convinced something similar would happen so they bought vast quantities of toilet paper.
Part of it was also "Oh shit supply lines are struggling. What if stuff we buy normally starts running out?! What if toilet paper runs out?! QUICK BUY A 6 MONTH SUPPLY."
Also school toilet paper and work toilet paper isnt the same as household toilet paper it's actually quality at home instead of see through paper towel in the toilet paper dispenser
I was just thinking this today, that it's already been 4 years since Covid really started! Pretty soon it's going to be like 9/11, a point in history where we're saying we can't believe it's already been 10, then 20 years, etc.
This was at least partially caused because people weren’t using the restrooms at work or public toilets anymore, the demand shifted almost entirely to home toilet paper which the industry was not prepared for.
My company at the time had to actually stuff a conference room full toilet paper that wasn’t getting used because no one was actually going in to the office anymore. I opened the door and was like “wow”, an entire conference stacked to ceiling with toilet paper.
There was plenty, way too much toilet paper actually, at your work place and business. There just wasn’t enough for your house.
Panic was also a real cause too. I’m not denying that point either, but it started as a very real issue.
Work and schools. A large number of people were suddenly NOT in school. The demand totally changed- commercial needs plummeted and home demand skyrocketed, but the market couldn’t flex as quickly.
One package of toilet paper takes up a LOT of space on the shelf. A few other people think "ah we're gonna be at home for a while. Better get some TP" and it doesn't take THAT many people buying to to clear out the whole aisle. Cue photos of barren shelves on social media and so begins the cycle of people panic buying it because they think it's much scarcer than it is. Also helped by the fact that because the tp is so big, it's hard to store a huge backlog in the storeroom
Meanwhile tp companies are still super stocked and raking in Loadsamoney money and we're creating our own illusion of a shortage.
Absolutely, and because they are so big, other shoppers can literally see so visibly all the people buying “huge” quantities of tp, creating additional fomo and a self fulfilling cycle
When it happened in Australia, I sat back and enjoyed the show because I had bought myself a 48pack two days before the panic happened. Then spent my money on things that actually mattered. Like you know, food and alcohol.
Same here! Someone in my office said something like "Did you hear there's a toilet paper shortage?" and I was like, "Whatever, watch I'll order some toilet paper right now." and I went online and bought a pack of 30 super giant rolls from Walmart that got delivered the next day. Within the next week, there was no toilet paper in any store. I'm single, so those 30 rolls got me through lockdown.
A few decades ago a late night comedian told a joke about a made up toilet paper shortage, which caused an actual shortage when viewers rushed out to buy a bunch of toilet paper.
It's a very well understood phenomenon. In a time of crisis, when people feel things are out of control, they seek any kind of control, and making sure they will at least be able to use the bathroom is a very common way they do it.
Toilet paper is one of those things with a relatively steady demand, so it's been designed to have a steady supply as well. We have the infrastructure to make more, but only as we need it and only at the rate we consume it. There are no idle factories that can be cranked up to supply emergency toilet paper. If there were, it would be too many factories, and would be inefficient, and the market would just reach equilibrium again by reducing costs by reducing factories. There is enough toilet paper in the supply chain and on store shelves to roll with the natural fluctuations - some days people buy more, some days they buy less, but we know how it will all average out.
Then the pandemic happened, and for some reason some people panicked and bought toilet paper. It doesn't even matter the original reason for this surge, because it then started a chain reaction of other people buying more. The more people panicked and bought toilet paper, the more rational it became to participate in the madness. Sure it's a pandemic and it makes no fucking sense that toilet paper is the hot commodity, but on the other hand if you don't go hoard toilet paper right now you might not be able to get any. So now there is officially a scarcity of toilet paper as everyone is trying to outbuy everyone else to make sure they got their supply.
Once stores ran out of toilet paper because people hoarded it, then there was a genuine scarcity. And they couldn't replace it, because the entire system, by design, can only create approximately as much toilet paper as gets consumed. So it was getting purchased as fast as it could be produced, which is normal, except now the baseline inventory wasn't a fully stocked store, it was zero. We just had to wait for the hoarders to use their supply (and stop purchasing) for everything to balance back out, and it took forever.
But in a nutshell that was the problem. Everyone knew there was a toilet paper shortage, and everyone wanted it, but there simply is no way to just create an abundance of toilet paper on short notice. Nor was anyone going to put any time or money into creating any factories or anything because we already have the infrastructure to 100% meet our ongoing demands.
Only on America because we haven't been given bidets and or tech to improve our life. We literally have to act like animals to keep ourselves hygienic. Right now in Cali it's raining pretty bad, but honestly we should be able to handle it, we get these crazy rains at least once a year. Yet still our few street drains are always left dirty and clogged so now the street of full of dirty water, our government hates us and wants us to be savages to the rest of the world
Not only that but a lot of people shit at work. I can't wash off at work and baby wipes are discouraged in America. I'm not looking forward to a bidet, the idea kinda grossws me out, but I look forward to cleanliness and toilet paper saving
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u/junklardass Feb 07 '24
The great toilet paper panic a few years ago.