An Ox Ranch employee uses a flamethrower to destroy what appears to be several boxes of toilet paper. Photo obtained from Ox Ranch’s Facebook post.
By Jillian Guinn
Ox Ranch, located in Uvalde, Texas, posted a video on its Facebook page that depicted an employee incinerating what appears to be several boxes of toilet paper with a flamethrower on March 21. After drawing criticism online, the organization reaffirmed its commitment to aiding the community.
“There’s no toilet paper shortage over here at the Ox Ranch,” the video’s description read. “(In fact,) we had a little fun with the [sic] flamethrower!! Book with us today for the ultimate social distancing destination.”
Ox Ranch’s video now has over 322,000 views and 4,200 comments on Facebook at the time of publication. Currently, there are no plans to remove the post from the ranch’s social media, Brent Oxley, owner of Ox Ranch, said.
“We’d be crazy to take down a video that has gone viral that cost less than $100 to make,” Oxley said. “I’m proud of the philanthropy that we are doing for the community and can’t wait to do more. If people are going to judge us over the burning of a few rolls of toilet paper, let them.”
Though Oxley said between 50 to 60 rolls of toilet paper were burned in the video, the ranch’s profile claimed in the comments section of the post that the boxes were empty. In the same comment, the ranch’s profile said the toilet paper used in the video was purchased before shortages were caused by panic buyers.
Ox Ranch staff declared the group’s intent to donate $10,000 to local first responders and medical facilities following public outcry from the post.
“We said we’d donate $100 per roll to first responders and medical facilities, but in reality, we are going to be giving $10,000,” Oxley said. “I’m currently waiting for the Uvalde Chamber of Commerce to get back to me with information on how to best donate this locally.”
Ox Ranch is also sending care packages containing toilet paper to individuals who have reached out through social media, Oxley said.
Pile of toilet tissue prior to incineration. Photo obtained from Ox Ranch’s Facebook post.
“We have received over 75 toilet paper requests and will be mailing all of them anywhere from 4 to 12 rolls a day,” he said. “The demand was far greater than the total amount of toilet paper that we had purchased for the video. This left us with no choice but to dip into our ranch inventories, of which I’m confident that we can refill before running out in a few weeks.”
Uvalde county has been declared an emergency area and has two confirmed case of COVID-19 at the time of publication, emergency management coordinator for Uvalde, Charlie Waller, said.
“We are trying to keep people from getting stressed out and causing a scene,” he said. “For the most part, everyone has been pretty civil about accepting the fact there are shortages caused by people over buying because of panic.”
Both H–E–B and Walmart are restocking their shelves each night, Waller said. Still, many people are unable to get the products they need and were outraged when they saw the video posted by Ox Ranch.
Many individuals expressed disapproval in the comment section of the video. One Facebook user called the video a poor representation of the hunting industry.
“This makes hunting business look (poor),” the user’s comment read. “A very poor decision in these trying times.”
Ox Ranch care package contents. Photo obtained from Ox Ranch.
Oxley fervently pushed back on the negative feedback garnered by the post. He emphasized that Ox Ranch is taking measures to support the community during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The world is full of hypocrites, and I’d be willing to bet the bulk of the negative comments from this video are from the very people sitting on large stashes of TP and contributing to the current shortages,” Oxley said. “There are hundreds of comments filled with people telling us what to do with our money and property, but only a few comments from people saying how they plan to make a difference.”
In the Facebook video’s comment section, the ranch’s profile defended its post in response to objections from several viewers. Comments posted by the ranch’s official account deemed the burning as not harmful because toilet paper is not a necessity.
“Food, water, and shelter are necessities,” Oxley said. “I don’t believe anyone has ever died from a lack of TP. I have personally used a Toto washlet for many years now and would never switch back exclusively to TP.”
Ox Ranch also claimed they were expecting a visit from the Uvalde sheriff through their Facebook profile. However, Uvalde County Sheriff Charles Mendeke said this is untrue.
“I don’t know what sheriff they were talking about because it sure wasn’t me,” Mendeke said.
Ox Ranch is reportedly sending bathroom tissue by request to community members. Photo obtained from Ox Ranch.
Because nothing illegal was depicted in the video, Mendeke said he would not be contacting the ranch regarding the incident. Mendeke said he thought the post was distasteful, however.
“I can’t stop someone from burning their own toilet paper,” he said. “They just did something that I think was in bad taste.”
Oxley suspected the video would draw attention online. Nonetheless, Oxley said he was surprised by how emotional people were at the desecration of rolls of bathroom tissue.
“About 30 to 40 percent of the food produced in America turns to waste,” he said. “There are millions of people starving in the world, thousands are dying from the coronavirus, and millions losing their jobs, but hey, let’s make a big stink over a few TP rolls. Craziness.”
Oxley will continue to stand by the video no matter what people think, he said. Ox Ranch is still accepting care package requests and can be reached through Facebook or on their website.
“We unfortunately cannot do business without offending people,” Oxley said. “If I was in the business of making everyone happy, I would shut us down and open a pie shop.”
Editor’s note: view the video here.
About Reece Nations, Managing Editor
