TheQuartering [6/10/2022]
Procter & Gamble is bizarrely blaming comedian Amy Schumer for a national tampon shortage.
Schumer, 41, appeared in advertisements for Tampax — America’s most popular tampon brand owned by P&G — aiming to normalize conversations about menstruation in July 2020.
“Retail sales growth has exploded,” company spokeswoman Cheri McMaster told Time magazine, saying demand is up 7.7% since the Oscars 2022 host starred in the series of commercials for the corporation almost two years ago.
Tampax tampons are currently hard to come by at grocery stores in many parts of the country, “with Amazon sellers taking advantage of the shortage.” In January, the outlet reports, one box of 18 Tampax “listed for $114, about $6 more more — per tampon — than women usually pay.” In addition to raging shortage complaints in Reddit threads, a charity that supports homeless women has also seen a “big drop off” in donations of the feminine hygiene product.
The company is apparently running Tampax factory workers ragged in Maine — with McMaster claiming the manufacturer is operating 24 hours a day in an attempt to plug the dam of demand.
Is Schumer’s effective hype job to blame? The Post has reached out to both the “Trainwreck” star and P&G for comment.
Meanwhile, P&G “posted its biggest sales gain in decades in the most recent quarter, and the amount of money it made from sales in its feminine care division was up 10%.”
But Time reporter Alana Semuels appears skeptical of P&G’s claim that “Life or Beth” star Schumer is responsible for the shortage — questioning whether contemporary commercials alone actually have the power to move products out the door.
Plus, other brands of tampons — including Playtex — are also in short supply, and they don’t have an Emmy winner and Tony nominee to blame.