The Great Toilet Paper Scare

This is a 10 minute short film, that premiered on The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentary films, curated by The Atlantic. 

From the accompanying report:

Some experts regard the toilet-paper shortage of ’73 as a case study in the mechanics of the rumor mill. Earlier that year, the stock market had crashed, losing more than 45 percent of its value—one of the worst declines in history. To make matters worse, an oil embargo caused gas prices to spike dramatically. Fear and uncertainty were in the air. The climate was ripe for the spread of misinformation.

As Steuart Henderson Britt, the late Northwestern University marketing professor, put it at the time: “One person says there could be a problem. The next person says there probably is a problem. The next person says there is a problem.”

You don’t have to look far to find parallels between 1973 and today. Just days after the first case of the coronavirus was identified stateside, Americans started stockpiling toilet paper, despite the fact that most stores had it in stock.

While on the subject, according to a separate report from the BBC:

Toilet roll panic buying is leading to blocked sewers as people with no loo paper are forced to use alternatives, a water company has warned.