The Conversation (0)
Breanna Robinson
Oct 11, 2021
News outlet CNN called life before the coronavirus pandemic the “Before Times” in a new article — and people are freaking out about the dystopian wording.
In a report published on Sunday the outlet wrote on the hopes of getting the grocery stores back to the “limitless options” they used to have in the “Before Times.”
But for this fall and winter, people may feel let down with the limited items available due to supply chain issues and labour shortages.
If you hoped grocery stores this fall and winter would look like they did in the Before Times, with limitless optio… https://t.co/H5ntwfZh0j— CNN (@CNN) 1633881663
Among the items facing limitations include Sour Patch Kids, Rice Krispies Treats, Ben & Jerry’s ice creams, and McCormick gourmet spices.
”Gourmet is the only product line impacted by this packaging shortage,” said Lori Robinson, a spokesperson for McCormick, told CNN.
She also noted that the red-capped spices would be readily available during the holidays for consumers to utilise.
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With this understanding, some suppliers informed grocers to cancel “promotions” of the items and during the holiday season so that the items wouldn’t vanish from the shelves so fast.
Some people were disturbed by the arguably dystopian language used.
“The “Before Times”....? HELL NO”, one person responded.
“What kind of dystopian level shit is this,” wrote another.
Check out what other people had to say about the “Before Times” reference.
Does anybody want to tell me what the “Before Times” are… that kind of intentional phrasing is terrifying. https://t.co/sb6Q11FId7— The Watcher (@The Watcher) 1633960853
So many parts of this are unnerving... 1. Referring to COVID as Before Times. 2. Even our grocery stores are still… https://t.co/qrZY4HWeRA— Mia Tramontana (@Mia Tramontana) 1633964954
Oh shit https://t.co/dTGjcPmDnr— Representative 👑 (@Representative 👑) 1633972007
“the Before Times”. @cnn has really embraced the fact that we’re now living a dystopian reality. https://t.co/FTm6ESY1JT— Gulag Inmate 93271 🇺🇸 (@Gulag Inmate 93271 🇺🇸) 1633970960
@LindaOShea18 @CNN Yea here’s an example no potatoes at my local wegmans. So potatoes is spoiled got it. At my rest… https://t.co/IBpavrEl15— Kostas (@Kostas) 1633961767
CNN further noted that consumers would still have many food options from companies at their disposal unless it’s one of their lesser-known products, which could be hard to find.
However, supplies within grocery stores still haven’t fully recovered to how things were before the pandemic. Companies such as Sam’s Club and Costco have also recently reinstated purchase limits for consumers buying paper goods and cleaning supplies.
In data published by IRI, which tracks in-stock levels of top US wholesale stores and grocery chains, 15 per cent of candy and 16 per cent of snacks were among the items out of stock at stores in the week ending on October 3.
Prior to the pandemic, IRI data suggested that 7 to 10 per cent of products were generally out of stock on the shelves.
Read more about the report here.