Kleenex shares reassuring post amid coronavirus toilet paper panic
Kleenex has stepped in to reassure customers it is working overtime to restock shelves as panic-buying stoked by the coronavirus crisis shows no signs of slowing down.
Around Australia, supermarket aisles have been stripped of toilet paper, with scenes of crowds hysterically piling toilet paper into trolleys being shared on social media, while others are mocking frantic shoppers by advertising the sale of individual rolls of “rare” toilet paper for up to $1000 on Facebook.
Shoppers have even turned to violence in supermarkets, with Yahoo News Australia covering reports that one shopper pulled a knife on another customer in the toilet paper aisle of a western Sydney Woolworths.
But Kleenex Bathroom Australia, who manufactures toilet paper, has taken to social media to calm fears of stocks running out.
“Australia, don’t panic! We are working around the clock at our mill in South Australia to keep the supermarket shelves stocked with Kleenex Complete Clean toilet paper,” the manufacturer posted on Facebook.
The post was accompanied by a smiling employee standing in a warehouse filled to the ceiling with bathroom supplies.
“As you can see we won’t be running out anytime soon,” Kleenex wrote.
Customers were overjoyed to see the mountains of toilet paper heading to a supermarket near them soon.
“Thank God as I'm genuinely nearly out and I have a family of five! People need to calm down!” one person responded.
“At the rate people are panic buying, this could be what any Australian living room looks like,” another person wrote.
“Thank you to all the Kleenex workers. I hope when this mass panic is over, you all get some well deserved rest,” one user commented.
The panic-buying frenzy has resulted in Woolworths limiting the amount of toilet paper each shopper can buy to four packs per customer online and in-store.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters on Tuesday he was not concerned about supply in Australia, but confirmed he had spoken to supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths about the issue.
“What they were able to feed back to me was very positive and I’m pleased with the plans they have in place. The prolific nature of this has been presented on social media and things like that, it is not as widespread as those images suggest,” he said.
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