“Cha-cha-cha…Charmin” remains in the memory of many people as one of the jingles most emblematic of television and that, together with the soft dancing bear, mascot of the toilet paper, It earned the brand the preference of millions of Mexicans.
According to the brand’s website, Charmin was born in 1928 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States (USA), when an employee of the Hoberg Paper Company referred to the toilet paper as “lovely” (charming, in English). Because the product caught on quickly, the firm changed its name to Charmin Paper Company.
In 1957 the cleaning products company Procter & Gamble (P&G) “couldn’t resist” softness of Charmin, thus becoming the brand’s parent company.
However, it would not be until the beginning of the new millennium, in the year two thousand, when the brand acquired its characteristic identity with a cartoon campaign called “The Call of the Wild”, which introduced its mascot: Charmin the bear.
Over the years, the bears joined the family Leonard, that appears on roll packaging Ultra Strong, Molly, face on roll packs Ultra Softas well as Bill, Amy and Dylan, each with their respective personality.
Although Charmin was one of the most recognized toilet paper brands in Mexico, due to its softness and the quality of its materials, stopped being marketed in the country after P&G announced adjustments to its product portfolio in 2015 as part of a commercial strategy to maintain its competitiveness.
”We are becoming a simpler company, more focused on leading brands in structurally attractive categories that fit our strengths,” the firm reported in July of that year.
One of the changes contemplated reinforcing the brand in some countries and stop producing some categories, such as rolls and paper napkins, in others. Among those nations was Mexico, so, along with its famous publicity, Charmin began to gradually disappear from the shelves of shopping malls.
Before the news became official, Mexicans began to notice that the presence of Charmin was less and less supermarkets and self-service stores, until it finally disappeared and left its consumers “longing to go to the bathroom, enjoying being there and not being afraid to show it”, as the brand assures in its Web page.
Charmin’s departure left the door open to 11 percent of the market in the country, that was used at the time by Kimberly Clark, with brands like Petal.
Despite its absence in Mexico, the toilet paper brand still exists in countries like the United States, where it continues to be marketed and renewed, and they have even launched a roll called Forever Rollwhich yields up to three months of use.
If you’re feeling nostalgic or looking to feel the smoothness of Charmin again, you can purchase their products through Amazon, although to quite high prices.
- Ultra Soft, whose price varies between 470 and 530 pesos
- Ultra Soft Super Mega Roll, with a cost between 500 and a thousand pesos
- Ultra Strong and Ultra Strong Super Mega Roll, which cost between 450 and a thousand pesos
- Ultra Gentle, which exceeds 300 pesos
Various Charmin products are also available in Mercado Libre, with a cost that, in most cases, exceeds 500 pesos.