The White Gold and other Resources
There's a classic Bud Light commercial from 1999 you might remember. There are two guys, from the looks of things roommates, shopping at a supermarket. When the cashier rings up their purchases, they find out that they are short and will have to return one item. The choice is between the toilet paper and the Bud Light. With a heavy heart, the two guys keep the beer. When the cashier asks what bag they would like, paper or plastic, the guys emphatically demand, in unison, paper.
Fast forward to the year 2020. What exactly did you think about when you read the headline? White gold? Polished gold? Gold with a white tint? Diamonds? Sugar, perhaps?
Since Germany's lockdown, the media has applied this label to toilet paper. More than anything else, that is what Germans are terrified of running out of. It's not meat, not fruits or vegetables - although the produce sold these days leaves a little to be desired - and certainly not dairy products. It's toilet paper, preferably 100% recycled toilet paper. Chances are you will find a place to buy firearms or drugs more easily than getting ahold of the white gold. Knowing the Germans, though, they are probably hoarding a few months' supply in their basement. The media reported that last week, sales of toilet paper went down for the first time in a month. That's not so hard to believe when you consider there is none available.
Just for kicks, a German television show placed a pallet of toilet paper in a mom and pop's store near the Bahnhof in Germany and let the camera roll and save the results for its TV audience. The pallet, consisting of 50 packs of toilet paper of eight rolls each, sold out in 22 minutes. The good citizens of Germany couldn't believe their good fortune.
The Germans call this act of hoarding "hamstern" or what a hamster or squirrel would do when they need to put more food in their mouths than is needed. Toilet paper tops the charts of coveted items in a German supermarket in the age of Corona. I doubt very much that anybody would pick any beer - and in Germany, the choices are as endless as they are good - over toilet paper these days. In fact, I think the one industry making a killing in Germany these days is the toilet paper industry.
Not quite. Besides toilet paper, the sale of soap and other disinfectants is up 300%. Under food items, you will rarely find a bag of rice or dry foods like beans or lentils. If Germans didn't have a plan B before, they have one now.
Oh, I also forgot to mention: the sale of bidets is also through the roof these days.
Fast forward to the year 2020. What exactly did you think about when you read the headline? White gold? Polished gold? Gold with a white tint? Diamonds? Sugar, perhaps?
Since Germany's lockdown, the media has applied this label to toilet paper. More than anything else, that is what Germans are terrified of running out of. It's not meat, not fruits or vegetables - although the produce sold these days leaves a little to be desired - and certainly not dairy products. It's toilet paper, preferably 100% recycled toilet paper. Chances are you will find a place to buy firearms or drugs more easily than getting ahold of the white gold. Knowing the Germans, though, they are probably hoarding a few months' supply in their basement. The media reported that last week, sales of toilet paper went down for the first time in a month. That's not so hard to believe when you consider there is none available.
Just for kicks, a German television show placed a pallet of toilet paper in a mom and pop's store near the Bahnhof in Germany and let the camera roll and save the results for its TV audience. The pallet, consisting of 50 packs of toilet paper of eight rolls each, sold out in 22 minutes. The good citizens of Germany couldn't believe their good fortune.
The Germans call this act of hoarding "hamstern" or what a hamster or squirrel would do when they need to put more food in their mouths than is needed. Toilet paper tops the charts of coveted items in a German supermarket in the age of Corona. I doubt very much that anybody would pick any beer - and in Germany, the choices are as endless as they are good - over toilet paper these days. In fact, I think the one industry making a killing in Germany these days is the toilet paper industry.
Not quite. Besides toilet paper, the sale of soap and other disinfectants is up 300%. Under food items, you will rarely find a bag of rice or dry foods like beans or lentils. If Germans didn't have a plan B before, they have one now.
Oh, I also forgot to mention: the sale of bidets is also through the roof these days.
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