Girls Don’t Poop: the original launch film

Read the campaign story

Poo-Pourri’s September 2013 online film turned an awkward household problem into a direct sales conversation. A formally dressed presenter spoke from a toilet, combining polished delivery with frank bathroom humour. The company’s contemporaneous release credits the Harmon brothers and writer-director Joel Ackerman. A later founder interview in Bizwomen confirms that the product business existed for years before the video; this was a breakthrough communication, not the invention of the company.

The product distinction was part of the joke rather than an appendix. The film explained a spray used in the bowl before going to the toilet, contrasting prevention with dealing with an unpleasant smell afterwards. The campaign’s scientific and efficacy language belongs to the advertiser. The sources opened for this case document the advertising proposition, not an independent laboratory test of it.

Editorial reading: The execution gives viewers permission to discuss a problem they already recognise. A composed spokesperson makes the uncomfortable subject easier to stay with, while the location prevents the humour from drifting away from the use occasion. The apparent mismatch between manners and subject matter creates attention; the explanation then gives that attention a commercial purpose.

This is different from adding a shocking line to an otherwise ordinary product description. The taboo, the product’s timing and the presentation style reinforce one another. A smaller team should identify the genuine hesitation that prevents a customer from asking a question, then remove that hesitation without ridiculing the customer. Humour aimed at a shared situation is less risky than humour that labels particular people disgusting.

A useful adaptation would test two short demonstrations with a small consenting adult audience: one plainly instructional and one lightly humorous. Ask viewers to explain when they would use the product and what it claims to do. If they remember only the joke, the creative has not yet solved the communication task. Product claims still require substantiation regardless of how playful the delivery becomes.

The founder described the online response as unusually fortunate, not a predictable formula. Reported company growth and video views should not be treated as proof of the film’s isolated contribution. The transferable idea is to make a difficult product conversation understandable and memorable while keeping the route to purchase and the limits of the claim clear.

Make the explanation part of the entertainment

The joke should help people remember the use occasion.

Aim humour at a shared problem

Avoid humiliating customers for a normal bodily function.

Test comprehension before reach

Check whether viewers can explain the product after watching.

A small test for another brief

Explain a product addressing an uncomfortable household topic.

Correct explanation of use and supported benefit.

Stop if the humour stigmatizes customers or obscures unsupported claims.

• Choose one real customer hesitation.
• Write a plain and a humorous demonstration.
• Test both with consenting adults for comprehension.