ABOUT

The Brief:
Matsukiyo is one of the biggest drugstore chains in Japan. We’d already worked with the company on a toilet roll packaging campaign to end embarrassment in 2017. It now wanted an arresting campaign that would celebrate toilet paper as something silly and fun. We thought we’d bring a little cheek to where it had never been seen before.

Concept:
Bottoms are inherently funny, and they do funny and embarrassing things. When you buy toilet paper, by definition you admit that you have one just like everybody else. So we reasoned, why not salute the glute? Why hide your bottom when you’re buying something as commonplace and functional as toilet roll? And moreover, couldn’t we associate the softness and springiness and strokability of rolls of good quality toilet paper with soft, springy, strokable bottoms themselves?

Consumers can now make a purchase decision simply based on an interesting experience, rather than by checking specs and features in a store. Also, when they stock this product at home after purchase, being able to place the funny product in their home helps make their lives more enjoyable.

Execution:
In general, the Japanese toilet paper market prefers designs that emphasize functionality and communication through text, or conversely, very simple products that do not get in the way of daily life. In addition, since this kind of packages are quickly discarded, price is often the deciding factor in purchase rather than the quality of the package design. Against this background, we set out to make the toilet paper buying experience funnier through the power of design.

We created two designs in which the 8-roll toilet paper wrapper was printed to resemble a top and jeans that had pulled apart exposing the intergluteal crease (aka buttock cleavage or plumber’s crack). The space between the clothes was in fact unprinted and transparent, the toilet paper representing the white of skin and the cleft formed by the shape of the rolls pressed side by side inside.

Results:
By making it fun, we set ourselves apart from the competition.
As a result, the product's packaging design embodied the brand's vision that "Enjoy your life in Japan" and was featured in a famous Japanese TV program.