Hilarious ‘cheek test’ video shows consumers like recycled toilet paper over Charmin

Activists go undercover to learn about people’s purchasing habits — and their answers are il-loo-minating

A spoof “blind wipe” video released today goes undercover in the Pacific Northwest to ask everyday shoppers to perform a “cheek test” (no…not THOSE cheeks) to see if they can tell the difference between traditional and recycled toilet paper brands — and the results are il-loo-minating.

Watch the video: https://www.stand.earth/stopcharmin

The video, created by international environmental organization Stand.earth, reveals that when faced with the choice between toilet paper made from fresh cut trees and toilet paper made from recycled fiber, the majority of consumers choose recycled. Surprised? We aren’t either.

“Please take each roll of toilet paper and wipe it against your cheek. Would you choose the 100% nasty recycled paper — don’t know where that paper came from — or the freshly cut forest?” asks the tongue-in-cheek announcer, Mr. Soft.

“All things the same, obviously I’d take the recycled one,” responds one shopper, followed by repeated votes for the recycled toilet paper. “It’s better for the environment,” responds another young shopper.

The video specifically calls out Procter & Gamble for its refusal to include recycled fiber in its at-home toilet paper brands, including America’s leading toilet paper brand Charmin.

In its “Issue with Tissue” report released earlier this year, Stand.earth and National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) took the largest tissue companies to task for flushing our forests down the toilet, giving Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, and Georgia-Pacific “F” grades for having zero recycled content in their at-home toilet paper brands.

Nearly two thirds of Americans are concerned their toilet paper is made from clear-cutting globally important forests, and 85% want toilet paper and tissue sector companies to use more environmentally responsible materials, according to a poll released in March. But major brands refuse to change, instead relying on trees cut down from ancient forests like the Canadian boreal — the “Amazon of the North.”

Charmin prides itself on being “made from nature” — but if today’s video reveals anything, it’s that most shoppers definitely have no idea that when they purchase major brands like Charmin they are unwittingly complicit in flushing forests down the toilet. And that’s a real stinker.

Concerned consumers can join the movement calling on Charmin to increase its use of recycled and alternative fibers and stop cutting down primary forests for toilet paper at https://www.stand.earth/stopcharmin.

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Stand.earth (formerly ForestEthics) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with offices in Canada and the United States that is known for its groundbreaking research and successful corporate and citizens engagement campaigns to create new policies and industry standards in protecting forests, advocating the rights of indigenous peoples, and protecting the climate. Visit us at www.stand.earth and follow us on Twitter @standearth.