Australia’s ‘cheekiest’ toilet paper brand has scored an unexpected pop culture cameo, with Who Gives A Crap’s 100% Bamboo Tissues making an appearance in the season finale of the Sex And The City reboot, And Just Like That.
Seemingly earning Carrie Bradshaw’s stylish tick of approval, Kat Kearney, brand marketing director at Who Gives A Crap told B&T that the placement was a “big and very pleasant surprise”.
“We hadn’t pitched this, so it was a pretty organic placement,” she told B&T.
This is not the first time that the brand has popped up on the show, with a previous placement inside Charlotte York’s bathroom. Just as this time, the placement was not planned.
“It turns out that the person working on set and doing the styling and the props was actually a customer, and was a very enthusiastic brand fan… we understand it was the same person who has since placed our tissues in Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment,” Kearney said.
“I think it makes it even more special when it hasn’t been an active thing that we’ve pitched, but actually, through a customer”.
Kearney said the cameo is more than just a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, it’s a testament to the brand’s distinctive design when an icon of style like Bradshaw has seemingly selected them to be not just in her home but on display.
“We take these products that are otherwise pretty boring, overlooked, kind of hidden away, and we do put a lot of care into designing them in a way that makes people feel very proud to share them in their home,” she said.
“It’s really an exciting challenge for us to take these pretty utility kind of household everyday essentials and turn them into things that people are proud to display in their homes”.
While the US cameo is great for brand awareness, Kearney notes it’s just one part of a much bigger story. The brand has grown tenfold in the past seven years, driven by a mission to ensure everyone on Earth has access to a toilet and clean water within our lifetime.
“When you’ve got a mission that is so big and rallying, that is a real driving force behind the very ambitious growth plans that we have. The more we sell, the more we’re able to donate, and the closer that we get to our goal of solving the sanitation crisis,” she said.
That mission stems from two confronting realities: more than 2 billion people globally lack access to a toilet, and over 1 million trees are cut down every day to make traditional toilet paper. Who Gives A Crap addresses both issues head-on, committing to donate 50 per cent of profits to sanitation projects while using more sustainable materials, like bamboo, for its products.
To date, the company has donated more than $18 million to sanitation programs around the world.
That growth has been fuelled by retail expansion, from Woolworths and Aldi in Australia, to Tesco in the UK, and Whole Foods in the USA as well as a broader product portfolio that now includes garbage and pet bags.
Who Gives A Crap is known for its cheeky tone, but Kearney says it’s always balanced with purpose. “Our brand promise is all around making it fun to do good… we really want to use humour and good design as a vehicle for change.”
And while the eco-conscious appeal is clear, Kearney believes the Carrie cameo shows the movement is firmly stepping into the mainstream.
“Historically, [eco products] have been boring, beige, scratchy. It’s a trade off. Whereas we believe it can be beautifully designed, great quality, something that you actually want to show off and feel good about purchasing… and that comes with no compromises on quality”.
And with Carrie Bradshaw as a brand ambassador, Who Gives A Crap has well and truly made it in the city, showing that in the world of eco friendly household essentials, the brand is the new Mr Big.
