Novelty Bathroom Tissue Company Cleans Up

What do George Bush, John Kerry, Ayatollah Khomeni, and Muammar al-Qaddafi all have in common?

Their photographs have all been printed on rolls of bathroom tissue by justtoiletpaper.com, a wholesaler and e-commerce retailer of novelty bathroom tissue.

"We just filled an order for four rolls of George Bush," said owner and founder Marc Polish. "He must have done something stupid."

The Margate, NJ-based company is strictly non-partisan. Osama Bin Laden, the Starr Report and the Congressional Bank have also been immortalized on rolls of toilet paper.

He also offers less political bathroom tissue. Rolls are decorated with ducks, bunnies and paw prints as well as flowers, balloons and lucky charms. Some rolls have such holiday themes as hearts for Valentine's Day or pumpkins for Halloween. There's a camouflage roll just meant for a weekend warrior.

However, justtoiletpaper.com's core product is monogrammed bathroom tissue. "It's a home décor item," Polish explained. "If you have a nice place, people are impressed when they see your initials on your toilet paper."

Customers can order monogrammed bathroom tissue either directly over justtoiletpaper.com's Web site (http://www.justtoiletpaper.com) or through such upscale catalogs as Ballard's or Potpourri.

In addition, custom designs can be ordered as well. The most popular design is someone's picture. One customer, from a metropolitan New York City campus, has ordered rolls printed with the URL of a pet cause: morepublictoiletsny.org.

Polish feels that the future of his company might lie in having advertisers pay to have bathroom tissue with their messages placed in stalls around the world.

Acknowledging that some potential advertisers might still hesitate because of the use to which bathroom tissue is likely to be put, Polish points out company logos already adorn such toilet related products as bathroom tissues, cleansers, brushes, and the like. He suggests that a company could sponsor such informational essays as instructions for CRP. Who, he asks, wouldn't want to be associated with information that could save a life?

On the other hand, there are some things Polish won't print on toilet paper. In some cases, it's a legal question. He won't print team logos because of trademark laws and licensing agreements. It other cases, it's a question of taste. He has refused orders to print the Koran and the Israeli flag.

In addition to rolls of bathroom tissue, justtoiletpaper.com also offers mini travel packs and Sheet Music by Toidy Tunes, which one places inside the tube and plays music every time the roll is pulled.

One can look at custom toilet paper "as a novelty item", but Polish points out that customized or plain, it's something everyone uses. He adds that when people redecorate, they spend the most money on kitchens and bathrooms.

Whatever one spends on bathrooms or bathroom tissues, "you get your money out the back end."