Is Toilet Paper Optional?

by davidl on February 6, 2013

Angel Soft Toilet Paper

Recently, I purchased an 18 pack of Angel Soft toilet paper.  Now, I know buying toilet paper is really like throwing money down the drain but we all do it!  Seriously.  I got home and unpacked all the groceries including this 18 “double roll” or what they consider to be “36″ rolls of toilet paper crammed into 18.  Everything is going along fine until I went into the bathroom to change out an empty roll of toilet paper for one of my new “double rolls”.  As I am taking the old cardboard center off, it appears to be smaller than the new double roll (look closely at the picture above)!

Now, this may not seem like a big deal but I guess what bothers me is that the toilet paper company wants me to feel like I am getting more paper (because the rolls are thicker) but in reality I am getting less because the center cardboard is wider!  I probably would not have noticed this difference but my wife is an art teacher and we have been saving the cardboard centers for her class projects for a good six months.

Does this really matter or am I just overreacting?  After all, when you open a bag of potato chips the bag is at least half full of air.  If the potato chip company can do it why can’t the toilet paper company?  In my humble opinion, there is a vast difference between toilet paper and potato chips.  Potato chips are optional but toilet paper (in my opinion) is not!

I guess this makes toilet paper more or less a commodity in the fact that we can’t really do without it and in the end we will pay whatever they ask for it.  Most likely, I will continue to buy Angel Soft because I have been using it for years and still think it is a good product.

I would love to hear your comments on toilet paper and any other product that you feel like you are throwing your money down the drain on!

Thanks,

David

 

 

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{ 14 comments… add one }

  • Jess Brown February 7, 2013 at 12:53 am edit

    Hi David,

    Have you ever heard that funny expression “they couldn’t say it on TV if it wasn’t true!” I saw it on a few different cheesy commercials who’s main objective was fooling the masses into believing their product/service was completely legit as advertised. We know better, don’t we? haha.

    Like your toilet paper example, there are SOOO many products out there that aren’t advertised truthfully. Personally, I turn away from trying to figure it out or I’ll likely be incredibly annoyed every time I’m duped by another great ad. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

    Now you have me wondering about toilet paper….hmm. I think I have to go check mine now as I have a few different brands on hand. See what you did now? ;)

    Thanks for this entertaining post!

    Jess

    Reply

    • davidl February 7, 2013 at 8:18 pm edit

      Jess,
      I don’t believe most of what I hear on TV. I guess they figure even only a small percentage of us buy their products they will be okay. Thanks for your input!
      David

      Reply

  • Angela McCall February 7, 2013 at 2:57 am edit

    I really love this article!

    You know, I don’t even do the shopping. My husband does it all. I know it sounds funny but he loves doing it. And so I have no idea what is the cheapest and best toilet paper. Sometimes they comes out so thick. Other times they comes out so thin. Oftentimes, he shops @ Costco. Whatever is cheap. Whatever is available, we get it.

    Reply

  • Michael February 7, 2013 at 8:52 am edit

    I am glad that I wasn’t “sitting down” when I read this. Lol. Btw, during the shortages of the 70s, Johnny Carson made a joke on his television show about the country running out of toilet paper. It was just a joke but people thought he was serious–I remember my mom saying, “I can do without a lot of stuff, but toilet paper isn’t one of them”! My mom ran out and bought up a whole closet full of toilet paper. Apparently everyone else did too, and a joke became reality. There was almost no toilet paper in the country for weeks.

    Reply

  • Harleena Singh February 8, 2013 at 12:51 am edit

    Interesting David!

    I agree, there are many products out there where we seem to be paying much more for the packaging and the advertisement than what we actually get in return. Yes, toilet papers are one of them, though potato chips is something I would relate to more because that’s what my kids are munching when we go out. I tell them often about the mentioned weight and compare the cost with other such products to see the difference. But kids will always be kids.

    I guess it all depends on the choices we make in our lives, and if we feel something is important and needed, and if we can’t find alternatives – we will go for it – isn’t it?

    Thanks for sharing. :)
    Harleena Singh recently posted…6 Steps to Have Loving and True Friends in LifeMy Profile

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    • davidl February 10, 2013 at 11:07 pm edit

      Harleena,
      A lot of it does come down to the choices we make. There are certain things I will pay extra for even though I could find a cheaper alternative. Thanks for your input!
      David

      Reply

  • Tim Bonner February 9, 2013 at 6:44 pm edit

    Hi David

    For a while we went through a stage of buying the cheapest toilet paper you could get. It felt like sandpaper.

    Buying toilet paper is like throwing money down the drain but we went back to our old brand very quickly; just for comfort’s sake!
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  • Theodore Nwangene February 10, 2013 at 8:50 am edit

    Hi David,
    Just as you said, toilet paper is not optional in fact, its one of those things we cannot do without.

    Therefore, i think that no matter how they do it or the price they placed it, we must buy. Unless maybe later, there comes an alternative.

    Thanks for sharing Dav.
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