The Sardine Crisis: How Social Media Turned a Humble Staple into a Status Symbol (and Ruined It for Everyone)
Social media has turned the humble, sustainable canned sardine into a coveted status symbol, creating artificial scarcity that frustrates lifelong consumers and undermines the very environmental benefits that made the fish trendy. The pattern—viral demand for a previously overlooked staple—threatens food security and market stability for ordinary people, and it could happen to any product next.