2021: the year 'supply chain' went from jargon to meme

Photo 29895238 © Sebnem Ragiboglu | Dreamstime.com

There was a time, around 20 years ago, when The Loadstar’s production editor, Dave Badger, used to keep a notebook with the words Management-Speak Bullshit Jargon scrawled on the front cover. Inside were a list of words/phrases collected from various press releases and consultancy reports that he argued were, essentially, meaningless. Near the top of the list in 2000 were the words “supply chain”, a term that few outside our readership were acquainted with… until 2021 came along. Today, supply chain is on everyone’s lips, according to this article in Quartz: “On Twitter, the supply chain has been blamed for: getting nothing done, disappointed children, an excess of camouflage pajama pants, hungry dogs, insomnia and everything. There are frantic reports on TikTok and Reddit of bare grocery store shelves. One TikTokker devoted a 7-part series to explaining the supply chain crisis, nestled in a feed made up of make-up tutorials, cat voiceovers and dating advice.”