Originally Published: Washington Post Magazine • July 21, 2016
A few years back, the founders of Squatty Potty had a problem. Their product is a plastic footstool that wraps around the base of a toilet to elevate the feet and make going to the bathroom easier. Its founders say that changing the sitting angle unkinks the colon, making for a more natural and satisfying experience. But advertising such a product is difficult. The company’s previous attempts to explain the benefits of squatting veered from the scientific to the euphemistic; one TV ad featured a woman Hula-Hooping in a “healthy colon” T-shirt.
Then the founders of Squatty Potty turned to a marketing firm called Harmon Brothers, known for turning gross into gold…Perhaps it takes people highly attuned to the fault lines of culture to know how far they can push things.