Charmin ( ) is an American
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
of
toilet paper
Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet tissue or bathroom tissue) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the anus and surrounding anal region of feces after defecation, and to clean the perineal area and external genitalia of ur ...
manufactured by
Procter & Gamble
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
.
History
The Charmin name was first created on April 19, 1928 by the Hoberg Paper Company in
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea le ...
. In 1950, Hoberg changed its name to Charmin Paper Company and continued to produce bath tissue, paper napkins, and other paper products. Procter & Gamble (P&G) acquired Charmin Paper Company in 1957. Charmin Ultra was originally called White Cloud until 1993.
In 2008, P&G sold the European operations and product line to
SCA, where it was renamed to
Cushelle and
Zewa
Essity AB is a global hygiene and health company, with its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. The products portfolio contains one-use products such as tissue paper, baby diapers, feminine care (menstruation pads etc.), incontinence products, ...
.
Advertising
Originally, the manufacturer wanted to emphasize the product's softness, but did not know how to convey the idea of that physical sensation on television. The company's advertising agency suggested that shoppers be encouraged to squeeze the product in stores like a grocery shopper would squeeze a
tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
to assess its softness, but there was some concern that retailers would object to customers manhandling their merchandise and thus damaging it before purchase. The problem was solved with the concept that the handling would be actively discouraged by a comic antagonistic retailer in the advertisements. In an advertising campaign that lasted over twenty years, American advertisements featured actor
Dick Wilson, playing the fictional grocer
Mr. George Whipple. Mr. Whipple told his customers: "Please don't squeeze the Charmin!", emphasizing its softness in more than 500 advertisements between 1964 and 1985, and later returning in 1999–2000.
The country song "Don' Squeeze My Sharmon", which was a minor hit for Charlie Walker in 1967, was inspired by the ad campaign for Charmin.
Mascots
In 1928, the logo mascot was a female silhouette, supplemented by a baby in 1953, replacing the woman by 1956.
In advertisements,
Mr. Whipple
Mr. George Whipple (also known as George the Grocer) is a fictional supermarket manager featured in television commercials, radio, and print advertisements that ran in the United States and Canada from 1964 to 1985 for Charmin toilet paper. Typica ...
was eventually replaced with "The Charmin Bear", created by
D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in Britain and introduced to the United States in 2000. The original bear was not
3D-animated and had a light brown/tan color.
In 2001, three cubs were added to the family, and by 2007, a blue bear was introduced for the "soft" brand and a red bear for the "strong" brand. The bear later became part of the packaging, replacing the baby in 2004.
The new animated advertising campaign was called "Call of Nature".
In 2010, the company changed the logo to add flecks of toilet paper to the bears in the logo.
The "Charmin Bears" is a collective family of parents and children. Initially there was just one family of brown bears, with Leonard the Bear accompanied by Molly, Bill, Amy and Dylan. This was later split into distinct families of bears: five blue ones called the "Charmin Ultra Soft Family" and five red ones called the "Charmin Ultra Strong Family".
Environmental impact
In February 2009,
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
advised consumers not to use Charmin toilet paper, stating that it is bad for the environment.
As of 2018, Charmin is certified by the
Forest Stewardship Council
The Forest Stewardship Council A. C. (FSC) is an international non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world's forests via timber certification. It is an example of a market ...
and the
Rainforest Alliance
The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) with staff in more than 20 countries and operations in more than 70 countries. It was founded in 1987 by Daniel Katz, an American environmental activist, who serves ...
.
The
NRDC and
stand.earth
Stand.earth (formerly ForestEthics) is a grassroots environmental organization founded in 2000. The organization protects endangered forests by transforming corporate policy and governmental laws in the United States and Canada. Stand.earth uses p ...
issued a report in 2019 saying that Charmin toilet paper was still being sourced from 100 percent virgin trees, many of them from Canada's boreal forest. By November 2019 NRDC claimed 201,000 people had signed its petition to Procter & Gamble asking the company to change its practices.
References
External links
Charmin websiteFree Charmin Extender to hold the Charmin Mega Roll away from recessed toilet paper holders
{{Procter & Gamble
Products introduced in 1928
Paper products
Procter & Gamble brands
American brands
Personal care brands
Toilet paper
Bear mascots
Cartoon mascots
Fictional bears