As major retailers continue to lock up items to shoppers’ frustrations, the morning-after pill (also known as Plan B) has become yet another hard-to-access product. One woman who needed to purchase Plan B said anti-theft measures on the pill made it “embarrassing” to buy.
In the video, Lindsey Wedgeworth (@lindseyxworth) explains in the aisle of a Walgreens that she had a “little oopsie” that led her to need to buy Plan B, a pill that can prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex or another birth control method failed.
Wedgeworth flips her camera to show that while the $50 pill was on the pharmacy’s shelf, it was locked inside a plastic box that she would need an employee to open.
“I have to carry this around the store? You’re joking. Are you kidding me?” Wedgeworth says as she held up what appears to be a foot-tall box in her hand.
As she walks over to the register, it seems Wedgeworth tries to conceal her purchase, holding it low so it’s out of other’s eyesight, but the chunky box is hard not to make contact with, given how large it is.
The video has over 730,000 views and over 500 comments as of Tuesday morning.
“Oopsie but like WHY IS it SO EMBARRASSING,” she wrote in the caption.
Plan B is just the latest in a slew of products that are now under lock and key at major retailers.
In recent years, customers have seen locked plexiglass and plastic locks on the end of product hangers pop up at the stores they frequent. As a result, they need to push a sometimes not functional button and wait until an employee shows up (or they go out of their way to get them) so they can unlock the product. One CVS shopper recently discovered that even Spam was contained in a locked box.
The shopping experience has left many shoppers frustrated and anxious, sometimes causing them to leave without the item they went in for.
“If I have to ask for someone to help me get something, I’m not gonna buy it. So you just lost hundreds of dollars from me,” one TikToker said when confronted with locked beauty products.
A Target representative told KQED that the locked items vary from city to city, and the corporation is aware that it’s causing them to lose out on customer business.
“No retailer wants to lock up product,” Jason Brewer, executive vice president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, told KQED. “It is a last resort. But it’s only done when it’s impossible to keep a specific product on the shelf.”
@lindseyxworth oopsie but like WHY IS it SO EMBARRASSING #fyp #planbpill #oopsie #embarrassing ♬ Cena Engraçada e Inusitada de 3 Minutos – HarmonicoHCO
Several commenters offered Wedgeworth and other people in the same situation advice on how to get the pill for cheaper or how to lessen the embarrassment when buying Plan B.
“Target pickup lol saves all the embarrassment!” a top comment read.
“The last time I needed that, I went straight to the pharmacy, told the lady, she put it right in a bag and let me pay there. She understood,” a person shared.
“Babe- go to Costco! Less then $10,” another wrote.
The Daily Dot reached out to Wedgeworth and Walgreens for comment via email.
