The Charmin name was first created on April 19, 1928, by the Hoberg Paper Company in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1950, Hoberg changed its name to Charmin Paper Company and continued to produce bath tissue, paper napkins, and other paper products. Procter & Gamble (P&G) acquired Charmin Paper Company in 1957.[1] Charmin Ultra was originally called White Cloud until 1993.[2]
In 2008, P&G sold the European operations and product line to SCA, where it was renamed to Cushelle.[3]
Advertising
Originally, the manufacturer wanted to emphasize the product's softness, but did not know how to convey the idea of that physical sensation on television. The company's advertising agency suggested that shoppers be encouraged to squeeze the product in stores like a grocery shopper would squeeze a tomato to assess its softness, but there was some concern that retailers would object to customers manhandling their merchandise and thus damaging it before purchase. The problem was solved with the concept that the handling would be actively discouraged by a comic antagonistic retailer in the advertisements.[4] In an advertising campaign that lasted over twenty years, American advertisements featured actor Dick Wilson, playing the fictional grocer Mr. George Whipple.[5] Mr. Whipple told his customers: "Please don't squeeze the Charmin!", emphasizing its softness in more than 500 advertisements between 1964 and 1985,[6] and later returning in 1999–2000.
The country song "Don't Squeeze My Sharmon", which was a minor hit for Charlie Walker in 1967, was inspired by the ad campaign for Charmin.[citation needed]
Mascots
In 1928, the logo mascot was a female silhouette,[7] supplemented by a baby in 1953, replacing the woman by 1956.[8]
In advertisements, Mr. Whipple was eventually replaced with "The Charmin Bear", created by D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in Britain and introduced to the United States in 2000.[9] The original bear was not 3D-animated and had a light brown/tan color.
In 2001, three cubs were added to the family, and by 2007, a blue bear was introduced for the "soft" brand and a red bear for the "strong" brand.[10] The bears later became part of the packaging, replacing the baby in 2004.
The new animated advertising campaign was called "Call of Nature".[11]
In 2010, the company changed the logo to add flecks of toilet paper to the bears in the logo.[12]
The "Charmin Bears"[13] is a collective family of parents and children.[14] Initially there was just one family of brown bears, with Leonard the Bear[15] accompanied by Molly,[16] Bill,[17] Amy and Dylan.[18] This was later split into distinct families of bears: five blue ones called the "Charmin Ultra Soft Family" and five red ones called the "Charmin Ultra Strong Family".[19]
The NRDC and stand.earth issued a report in 2019 saying that Charmin toilet paper was still being manufactured almost exclusively from forest fiber, much of it sourced from Canada's boreal forest.[23] By November 2019, NRDC claimed that 201,000 people had signed its petition to Procter & Gamble asking the company to change its practices.[24]
Design
Beginning in October 2023, P&G announced that it would introduce a new design of Charmin Ultra Soft toilet paper, this time with scalloped edges[25] in response to complaints about the former toilet paper design—which was composed of squares with straight edges—not tearing smoothly.[26]
^"Great Moments in Toilet Paper History". ABC News. 23 April 2002. 1928: From Charming to Charmin—Hoberg paper introduces Charmin. The logo—a woman's head from a cameo pin—was designed to appeal to feminine fashions of the day. A female employee called the packaging 'charming', and the product's brand name was born.
^Engber, Daniel (19 September 2011). "What Do Bears Have To Do With Toilet Paper?". Slate Magazine. The Charmin brand got its start in 1928 with a woman's cameo silhouette on the package ... In 1953, Charmin further softened its image by placing a baby alongside the woman. In 1956, the Charmin Lady was bounced altogether, leaving the baby to fend for itself as the brand icon.
^"Charmin Story". Charmin.com. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. 2001—The Charmin animated bears welcomed three bear cubs to the family ... 2007 ... The 'Call of Nature' bear campaign featured a red bear for Charmin Ultra Strong and a blue bear for Charmin Ultra Soft.
^"History Of Toilet Paper". Charmin.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. In the 1950s, Hoberg changed their name to the Charmin Paper Company. Charmin changed the 'Charmin lady' on the packaging to the 'Charmin baby' to symbolize the ultimate in softness. This would be followed by the famous ad campaign of the [1960s and 1970s] admonishing women and men around the country with 'don't squeeze the Charmin!' to highlight the paper's tempting squeezability. Ultimately, the company landed on a campaign called 'Call of Nature' featuring an outspoken family of animated bears who are unafraid of talking about 'the go' and how to enjoy it.