Ad-Supported Toilet Paper in Restrooms

An Ann Arbor, Mich.-based start-up firm, Star Toilet Paper, recently started selling ads and coupons printed on sheets of toilet paper. They are selling ads everywhere, from jet bridges at airports to movie tickets. Now, Jordan and Bryan Silverman are aiming to take advertising where it's never been before.

Mich. start-up debuts ad-supported toilet paper in restrooms
By: Katherine Yung, Detroit Free Press

Their Ann Arbor, Mich.-based start-up firm, Star Toilet Paper, recently started selling ads and coupons printed on sheets of toilet paper.

"It takes advertisers a couple of seconds to wrap their heads around advertising on toilet paper," said Jordan, who acknowledges his business elicits plenty of snickers and long pauses.

The tag line on the company's website advises people, "Don't rush. Look before you flush."

The company plans to distribute free, ad-supported toilet paper to public restrooms at restaurants, offices, stadiums and other venues. These locations can save money on a basic necessity in exchange for providing Star Toilet's advertisers with a captive audience.

Amid all the laughs, Star Toilet was recently named one of five finalists for Entrepreneurmagazine's College Entrepreneur of 2012 contest.

"Advertising is about having people read about your product and this seemed the ideal place to do so," said Jordan, a philosophy major who graduated from the University of Michigan this spring. "So far, people have loved it."

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