It is quite unique that many of us clean up after ourselves with toilet paper that is pink. Why is it exactly this colour? This question may have crossed your mind plenty of times—most probably when you’re sitting on your throne.
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Keep reading and you’ll finally have the answer, meaning you can spend your time in the bathroom doing other time-consuming things.
When did we start using toilet paper?
Before toilet paper was used to wipe human bottoms, they were washed with whatever people could find. The Greeks used their fingers or smooth pebbles, the Romans used a sponge or some kind of ceramic disc. Others, before and after them, used newspapers, sand, moss, snow, and even wood chips—now that’s got to hurt…The first uses of butt-wiping paper can be traced backed to the Chinese Song Dynasty in the 10th century.
Modern toilet paper, as we know them today, started being produced in England in 1850. They were manufactured industrially in the United States in 1857. Their popularity exploded in France a century later and it was at this time that they started being sold in an odd but now famous pink colour.
Why is toilet paper pink?
As you may have guessed, it was all a marketing strategy. It seems that pink toilet paper is much more appealing to buyers especially given that they’re buying something that needs to be thrown away immediately.
Moreover, pink is associated with softness and it is the colour that most closely resembles the skin. This analysis explains why white toilet paper, a colour associated with purity, is also becoming increasingly popular in the now very diverse toilet paper market.
This article was translated from Gentside FR.
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