Here’s some gratuitous Valentine’s Day marketing we can get behind. Literally. Who Gives A Crap wants you to send in old love letters and correspondence from your ex so it can be turned into toilet paper.
Since launching in 2012, Who Gives A Crap has always had charity and social justice at the forefront of its business. The idea for the toilet paper subscription service came from the founders discovering that 2.4 billion people don’t have access to a toilet.
It also donates 50% of its profits to sanitation and hygiene charities throughout the world. And this became particularly significant during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when toilet paper was in short supply and its subscriptions skyrocketed.
Its overall donations ticked over $11 million in January, but this is perhaps the most charitable move it’s ever made — a chance to turn your toxic ex’s BS into actual… you know where I’m going with this.
“Turn your ex’s empty promises into something that’s actually useful this Valentine’s Day. Mail us your old love letters and we’ll turn them into 100% recycled toilet paper,” the dedicated ‘Flush Your Ex’ website reads.
“Send us your cursed correspondence — the sappy compliments, bad poetry, any other paper remnants taking up psychic space in your sock drawer — and we’ll deliver it to our production facilities to be transformed into eco-friendly TP.”
Looking at this Valentine’s Day marketing campaign with a critical eye, there’s no escaping that it’s a great publicity opportunity. Not to mention that it’s a way for the company to obtain free material for its products in Australia, the UK and the US.
It’s clever but honestly, Who Gives A Crap?
It’s a fun idea and at the end of the day, actions speak louder than words — something all exes and toxic sneaky links could learn from.
“Because nothing says closure like knowing that someone, somewhere is putting those sweet nothings exactly where they belong.”
Amen.
Deputy editor
A multi-award-winning journalist, Tegan has been reporting on technology, telecommunications and gaming for the past 10 years. She regularly appears on mainstream media channels as an expert tech commentator. Her previous roles include editor of Gizmodo Australia and global reviews editor at Finder. She has also served as a reporter and editor across Business Insider, Lifehacker and Kotaku Australia. Tegan is also the co-host of one of the top technology podcasts in Australia, Weird Tech. You can find her on Twitter @Tegan_Writes.
