Dr Alice White

Basically, the British Civil Service couldn't be trusted to definitely wash their hands.

So they ruled it a public health risk to make the change.

Not only was it saving them money, but it was also saving them from the dangers of awful outbreaks.

I think partly it was this idea that institutions needed to maintain public safety.

And there was also a little bit of the idea that something luxurious was also nickable.

So people would potentially steal soft toilet tissue, but nobody wanted to steal the hard kind.

The big threat rising was Andrex, with their soft toilet tissue and their effective advertising slogan, soft, strong and long.

And they also highlighted the difference that toilet paper should be soft, not stiff, shiny or scratchy.

So they were really, they were really emphasising the difference.

And they backed it up with giveaways and they targeted the people buying the toilet paper.

They took out full page advertisements in women's magazines.

They encourage people to try it on the understanding that once people had had a sample of the soft toilet paper, they would be won over to a much nicer experience.

Yeah, I think one of the things that struck me sort of revisiting the research notes on this was a story that one of the psychologists who was visiting Newton Chambers was a woman.

And they didn't have an executive bathroom that the women could use.

They didn't have anyone high enough in the company to require those facilities.

They gave it everything.

They advertised it with cherubs.

They made it in different colors.

But ultimately, eye is always known for being hard.

And that's what their customers wanted.