A video by the Dollar Shave Club that markets a new line of ass-wipes for men is going viral, but the product itself stinks.
Sure, they're peppermint-scented and will leave your butt literally as clean as a baby's. They've got a somewhat manly name -- "One Wipe Charlies," and that popular YouTube commercial featuring the swearing Average Guy from the company's 10-million-view-getting ad about its mail-order razor program.
Still, while flushable wet-wipes for the adult anus seem to be gaining in popularity, judging by the companies willing to spend money trying to market them, we doubt they'll ever catch on as a popular hygiene accessory for the American male.
We can think of at least five good reasons why.
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5. You have to carry them around. Packets of ass-wipes may be carried well in a purse, but they're too big to fit in the pockets of dress slacks or jeans and too unprofessional to ride along in a briefcase.
4. Even if a man encounters a One Wipe Charlie at some fancy bar or restaurant that stocks their shitters with them, he'll be wary of it. It's new, it's wet (and why it's wet in a public restroom stall may always be a question), it's going to feel weird on your butt, like you've had a splash-back, and the peppermint smell isn't attractive when added to the overall odor mix.
3. You'll see the occasional bidet in the USA, but these porcelain toilet companions have never caught on for American men, and wet wipes for adults are similar to the bidet concept. We know it's cleaner. It's just too European.
2. The company can claim it's flushable, and it may be. However, if there's one thing an American guy is scared of, it's an overflowing toilet or backed-up pipes -- because he'll be required to either fix the crappy mess or suffer the humiliation of calling a plumber.
1. It tries to solve a problem that doesn't exist. The butts of American men are clean enough. Unclean office chairs aren't causing outbreaks of cholera. You can't tell whether a man has a perfectly clean or just reasonably clean asshole just by shaking his hand.
Men's butt-wipes make for good bathroom humor, but that's about it.