Hasta La Gadget!

Toilet paper can be so much more than just a cleaning apparatus. Some have published horror stories on it. Others, in desperate need of it, have demonstrated the real-time practical values of Twitter.

Now toilet paper gets political. Yahoo Japan is reporting on the tactics of Odawara City to get people interested in the forthcoming summer elections.

Preparing a fairly modest 200 rolls, the city’s election organizers has been distributing the toilet paper to Odawara restaurants, along with posters and special drinks coasters.

On the white paper is printed in blue guidance on the early polling, as well as information on laws about donations. There’s no word yet on whether candidates themselves will resort to canvassing in this fashion!

In Japan it is common to give out free tissues on the street when you want to promote your business. However, apparently the election committee didn’t have much success with this tactic and so came up with other ways to raise awareness of the approaching polls.

Even though it’s just toilet paper and a few drinks coasters, the campaign doesn’t come cheap, costing some 100,000 JPY (c.$1000)!