The toilet paper stockpiling craze sweeping Australia amid growing coronavirus fears is continuing to cause scenes of mayhem in supermarkets.
A video shared to Facebook on Sunday has revealed the intense moment Aldi shoppers descend on fresh toilet roll supplies, only to strip shelves clean in a matter of moments.
Security camera footage, posted online, showed hundreds of shoppers as they made a mad dash through a toilet paper aisle at an Aldi store in a desperate bid to ensure they were well covered.
While the video has since been shared widely on Facebook, the original poster, who is a friend of an Aldi employee, revealed the clip was filmed in a Melbourne store.
The clip of the shoppers’ toilet paper stampede has since gathered 3000 reactions, 21,000 shares and 14,000 comments with many saying the behaviour was disgusting.
One person said: “Do these people have a 20 person household … why would you need any more than one pack of toilet rolls … bloody embarrassing.”
While another said they thought the frenzy over loo roll was a case of “ironic hysteria”.
“The thing is that 80 per cent of these people aren’t stocking up on toilet paper because of the coronavirus, they’re rushing to buy toilet paper because they’re scared of not having toilet paper themselves because of the people panicking over the coronavirus,” they said.
“Which creates more hysteria because the demand for toilet paper becomes higher, introducing new people panicking over not getting toilet paper for their normal use. It’s an ironic circle of hysteria.”
A third commenter said they were concerned for people like the elderly who could miss out because of panic buying.
“So selfish what about the pensioners who are unable and don’t have the money to buy up big as well. Selfish.”
A recent report by news.com.au revealed Aldi has now joined forces with Woolworths and Coles and is limiting its toilet paper supplies to one pack per customer, down from four.
Customers shopping at the German supermarket were informed of the changes via a printed notice which was posted in all stores.
The message informs shoppers of its new toilet paper policy “restricting the bulk purchases of essential items, such as toilet paper, to one per customer”.
“We want to ensure all customers have access to our products,” the notice said. “We apologise if this act of courtesy is a disruption to your shop. Thank you.”
It didn’t take long for a shopper to share the sassy note on social media after sighting it in Aldi’s Maroubra store, declaring it the “best sign ever”.
“Love the little dig at the end to the uncourteous shoppers,” one person wrote on Facebook.
“Exactly what EVERY supermarket chain should be doing,” another said.
We
Have
Lost
The
Plotpic.twitter.com/obbwtrpliP— Ben Fordham (@BenFordham) March 10, 2020
Others called the sign “brilliant” and thanked Aldi for being real with customers about the frustrating situation.
“Thank goodness. All stores need to do this … stop the madness!!” someone else added.
More commenters said they’d seen the same sign in their local Aldi stores, revealing it had been spotted in Bendigo, Victoria, and Taigum, Queensland, too.
