Iconic Ads: Charmin – Please Don’t Squeeze the Charmin

An Iconic Advertising Campaign That Redefined Toilet Paper Marketing

Brand Origins: Charmin

• Introduction (1928): The Hoberg Paper Company in Green Bay, Wisconsin, introduced Charmin.
• Name Origin: The name came from an employee who described the tissue as “charming,” which was shortened to Charmin.
• Corporate Evolution: In 1950, Hoberg officially changed its name to Charmin Paper Company.
• Acquisition by P&G: In 1957, Procter & Gamble acquired Charmin, setting the stage for global expansion.
• Early Advertising: Before the “squeeze” era, ads often used female silhouettes, babies, and soft imagery to emphasise comfort, cleanliness, and gentleness.

Creation of the Campaign

The Challenge

By the early 1960s, Charmin needed a clear point of differentiation. The tissue’s softness was its strongest selling point, but demonstrating that softness through TV or print advertising wasn’t easy.

The Breakthrough Idea

The creative team at Benton & Bowles agency (later associated with Leo Burnett for later campaigns) landed on an idea that was as simple as it was clever:

• Shoppers naturally squeeze products like tomatoes or melons to test them.
• What if toilet paper was so soft, it was irresistible to squeeze — but at the same time, you weren’t supposed to?

Thus, the line “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin” was coined in 1964 by John V. Chervokas, a 28-year-old ad writer.

Mr Whipple: The Face of Charmin

• Character Creation: To bring the line to life, the team created Mr George Whipple, a slightly fussy but endearing grocery store manager.
• Portrayal: Mr Whipple was played by Dick Wilson, a Canadian-American actor whose mix of authority and warmth made him instantly believable.
• Ad Formula: In each ad, Whipple would scold customers: “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin”, — but when no one was looking, he himself would sneak a guilty squeeze.
• Longevity: Wilson played the role for over 20 years (1964–1985) and appeared in more than 500 commercials.

First Advertisements

• The earliest spot mirrored real grocery behaviour: shoppers squeezed produce, such as tomatoes and melons, then moved on to Charmin.
• Whipple’s exasperated scolding sealed the punchline — and instantly tied softness to the brand in consumers’ minds.
• Ads ran across the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, cementing Whipple as one of the most recognisable characters in American advertising.

Advertising Strategy and Success

• Humour and Relatability: By showing customers (and Whipple himself) unable to resist, the ads tapped into human behaviour in a funny, memorable way.
• Catchphrase Power: “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin” became a cultural catchphrase, repeated everywhere from households to comedy shows.
• Sensory Marketing: It brilliantly conveyed a tactile quality (softness) that TV alone couldn’t demonstrate.
• Market Impact: The campaign dramatically boosted Charmin’s market share, making softness synonymous with the brand and building deep loyalty.

Achievements and Cultural Impact

• In a 1978 survey, Mr Whipple was the third most recognised American, after President Nixon and evangelist Billy Graham.
• The campaign is consistently ranked among the Top 100 Advertising Campaigns of the 20th Century.
• Actor Dick Wilson himself admitted: “I’ve done thirty-eight pictures and nobody remembers any of them, but they all remember me selling toilet paper.”
• The slogan inspired pop culture, including the 1967 country hit “Don’t Squeeze My Sharmon” by Charlie Walker.
• The campaign was so influential that it’s cited in advertising literature — such as Hey Whipple, Squeeze This — as both a case study and cautionary tale in creative strategy.

Additional Trivia and Fun Facts

• Character Duality: Whipple’s contradiction — forbidding others to squeeze Charmin while sneaking to squeeze himself — made him funny, relatable, and enduring.
• Costume and Setting: Always dressed in a grocer’s uniform, Whipple embodied everyday authority, making the ads familiar to consumers.
• Parodies and Spoofs: Mr Whipple was spoofed in comedy sketches and even inspired copycat retail-manager archetypes in other ad campaigns.
• Comeback: After a hiatus, the character briefly returned in 1999–2000 with the updated tagline: “Is Mr Whipple watching?”

From Whipple to the Charmin Bears

• In 2000, P&G retired Whipple permanently, introducing the Charmin Bears as the brand’s mascots.
• Initially, brown bears split into two distinct groups: red (strong) and blue (soft) families, reinforcing the concept of product variants.
• This marked a shift from character-driven humour to playful, animated storytelling and later to the cheeky “Enjoy the go” slogan.

Legacy and Criticism

• Brand Dominance: Charmin became one of the leading toilet paper brands in the U.S. thanks to the Whipple campaign.
• Environmental Criticism: In 2009, Greenpeace criticised Charmin for unsustainable sourcing practices.
• Modern Update: In 2023, Charmin redesigned its rolls, introducing wavy perforation lines for smoother tearing — proving the brand continued innovation.

Conclusion

The “Please Don’t Squeeze the Charmin” campaign is one of the most enduring examples of advertising brilliance. By tying a simple sensory benefit (softness) to a memorable character (Mr Whipple) and a catchy slogan, Charmin created not just an ad, but a cultural phenomenon.

It showed that humour, consistency, and a clear product story can transform even the most ordinary household product into a marketing icon of history.