Earlier this month, the ‘Grab-And-Go Bag’ campaign went viral, as social media users tried to decipher what police Twitter accounts really meant when they posted ‘September is preparedness month. Emergencies can happen at any time and it’s recommended to have a #GrabBag ready containing essential items including medication, copies of important documents, food/water, torch, radio and other personal items.’
Authorities were accused of scaremongering amid theories that Prime Minister Boris Johnson could declare a national emergency in order to force through a no-deal Brexit.
There was no comprehensive explanation of where the sudden explosion of grab bag mania had come from. Some mentioned the ‘30 Days, 30 Ways’ national public awareness campaign, but nowhere among the panic and grab bag news stories was an explanation of who was behind the campaign.
It now turns out that one of the women behind the campaign is Monika Al-Mufti Nadig, who co-owns a commercial emergency supplies business called EVAQ8, as revealed by BuzzFeed News. The business may have profited from the viral panic around the grab bags, as all Google searches for ‘grab bags’ delivered adverts for the EVAQ8 products as top results.
As an explanation for why the police and other authorities were involved, the ‘30 Days 30 Ways’ campaign’s annual report in 2018 declared there had been a ‘1028% uptake growth’ in UK partners from 2017 to 2018. The partners aren’t listed, but it’s suggested on the campaign’s website they include ‘emergency responder’ groups like police organisations and council response teams.
#GrabBag campaign goes viral
What would a Luxembourgish bag of essentials look like?
