Toilet Paper Crisis

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Overview

Toilet Paper Crisis refers to a panic buying spree in Australia following the report of one man's death in the country due to Coronavirus. Although many people bought out toilet paper in many stores around the globe, the most notable shortage of toilet paper in stores and commentary online originated in Australia in March 2020.

Background

On March 1st, 2020, the first death in Coronavirus death in Australia was reported after 26 confirmed cases, according to the NY Post.^[1] Following the news, many people in Australia began stocking up on toilet paper during their panic-buying sprees. On March 3rd, @byronkaye^[2] tweeted a screenshot of a message from the store Woolworths and relayed the quote "We are trying to reassure people that removing all of the lavatory paper from the shelves of supermarkets probably isn't a proportionate or sensible thing to do at this time" from Australia's Chief Medical Officer in parliament (shown below).

Developments

On March 3rd, 2020, YouTuber AlrightHey uploaded a short video titled "Australia's Toilet Paper Crisis!!!!" describing his experiences in Sydney (shown below). The video garnered over 4,000 views in two days.

That same day, Twitter user @SoniaCrestpac^[3] posted a picture of a shopping cart filled with toilet paper with the caption, "The women behind me at the Aldi check out #toiletpaper #coronavirusaustralia" (shown below, left). The tweet garnered over 2,500 likes in two days. The next day, Twitter user @rick2511^[4] tweeted, "The perfect gift for someone who has everything but wants more. #toiletpapercrisis" with a picture of a box of toilet paper (shown below, right).

That same day, Twitter user @OzraeliAvi shared a video of people buying toilet paper at the grocery store with the caption, "While everyone is distracted fighting for #toiletpaper at @woolworths I’m just in aisle 2 grabbing baby wipes coz they feel nicer on my bum and Napisan in case shit hits the fan. Winning." (shown below). The video accumulated over 700 likes in a day.

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