They're the smooth (lisce) penne, not the furrowed (rigate) variety. "nobody" uses those!
At the start of the quarantine, when Italians went and stripped shops bare of goods despite all warnings about the supply chain being in no danger and there being no need to stock up on everything, this type of pasta was the only one left on most shelves.
The reason for that _might_ have to do with the "fact" that it's more difficult to ensure pasta sauce sticks to the smooth type - the grooves help a LOT ensuring the sauce sticks well and homogeneously.
As to why people would leave any type of food on shelves if they were truly thinking they'd need to stock up... I've no clue.
At the start of the quarantine, when Italians went and stripped shops bare of goods despite all warnings about the supply chain being in no danger and there being no need to stock up on everything, this type of pasta was the only one left on most shelves.
The reason for that _might_ have to do with the "fact" that it's more difficult to ensure pasta sauce sticks to the smooth type - the grooves help a LOT ensuring the sauce sticks well and homogeneously.
As to why people would leave any type of food on shelves if they were truly thinking they'd need to stock up... I've no clue.