WhatsApp 'Drop' Alerts Sparked London Eclipse-Glasses Scramble

On 12 August 2026, a pop-up WhatsApp group sent thousands of buyers to eclipse-glasses "drop" (flash-sale) points across London within minutes. One shop owner, citing "very bad things," pleaded for calm after customers threatened negative reviews and drove from as far as Birmingham. A Whitechapel store sold 6,000 pairs from a 2:30am Spanish delivery before 9:30am.