The next shortage is a national tampon deficit right after shelves were deficient in the baby formula, and the Biden administration is having shortage after another. A successful advertising campaign has been recognized as one of the causes of a tampon shortfall.
Feminine Products Scarcity
Time Magazine earlier reported that the United States is having a severe tampon shortage, quoting an incredibly successful ad campaign as one of the contributing factors to the scarcity, reported RT.
Amy Schumer, a famous comedian and actress, got hired by Procter & Gamble to represent Tampax, one of the popular tampons in the US. The actress portrayed a helpful tampon vendor who appeared in restrooms and saved women from getting into trouble by providing Tampax, cited NYPost.
The company's spokeswoman, Cheri McMaster, said that retail sales increased. She added the demand for the feminine product went up to 7.7% in two years, and the plant in Auburn, Maine ran 24/7 to increase production.
Nevertheless, as TIME's Alana Semuels found, the successful advertising campaign is not the only reason for tampon shortages, which social media users have well documented.
Photographs of empty shelves of many of the most hygienic products were supposed to be abundant on Twitter, Reddit, and other social media sites.
It's not as bad as toilet paper shortfalls in Spring 2020, but it isn't great; stated Dana Marlowe, founding member of the I Support the Girls charity, which provides homeless women with bras and menstrual hygiene supplies.
Pure cotton and rayon were in short supply as demand for face masks and other medical supplies increased. Consequently, the national tampon deficit affecting its manufacturers has had difficulty accessing these materials.
The cost of cotton rose in April to 71%, which is higher than last year, which worsened the problems.
Cost Affected These Products
Product delivery to the United States has become more expensive due to rising transportation costs.
Thyme Sullivan, the CEO of the startup The Organic Project, said that the shipping cost of its tampons to the United States has risen by 300 percent since last year.
Aside from the issues mentioned earlier, producers are also trying to deal with the lack of staff as more demand for their products increases.
Because tampons are considered medical devices, they are subject to stringent regulations, and companies cannot hire just anyone to work on the assembly line, so manufacturing lagged behind demand, according to the study's author.
Problems were more demand, less staff, and fewer raw materials, and the factors afflict other products.
What makes the tampon shortage so pervasive and troublesome, according to the outlet, unlike most other items that the supply chain has made hard to acquire, women cannot stop buying feminine hygiene products until supplies return.
Tampons aren't the only rare item in the United States. A shortfall of baby formula compelled New York authorities to declare an emergency last month.
Shortage of the critical product was sparked by Abbott Laboratories' shutdown of a Michigan plant in February due to contamination concerns.
After four babies who were fed formula made at the facility contracted a rare bacterial infection, the facility, that account for nearly 40% of the formula in the US market, asked to recall some of its product offerings and shut down a production facility. Two of them died later.
The national tampon deficit is caused by shortages in the supply chain due to the increased use of cotton and major factors like the baby formula shortage.
