Dollar Shave Club’s “One Wipe Charlies” promise to answer “Call of Doodie”

Dollar Shave Club began with a promise to make guys’ lives better by replenishing an often-used, always-pricey staple affordably.

Don't members deserve to have that promise extended to other products they use (or should use) everyday?

If there's one small, unavoidable fact of life that keeps me up at night, it's the obvious inefficiency of the humble toilet paper.

I don't think I'm revealing too much about myself if I tell you I find a single piece of toilet paper rarely performs its desired function without help from another 10 of its comrades, joining together in a brave, rather disgusting suicide mission, all in the name of hygiene.

I'm also probably not the only person who's come to the end of the last roll at a rather inopportune moment because they accidentally left that one forgettable, but vitally important, item off the grocery list.

Well Dollar Shave Club CEO Michael Durbin might have a solution for me. His company is launching "One Wipe Charlies," a flushable "butt wipe for men." (Though I'm of the opinion that they probably function just fine in a unisex role, unless I really don't understand women.)

The company is a subscription-based provider of shaving supplies, sending razor blades to customers for a monthly fee of $1, $6, or $9, depending on the type of blade. But now, they're reaching out—well, down—to provide assistance in other regions.

For an additional $4 a month, Dollar Shave Club will send a 40-pack of 5 x 7 in. wipes which they claim are "soothing, calming, and refreshing."

In a blog post explaining the new product, Durbin, writes:

"Dollar Shave Club began with a promise to make guys’ lives better by replenishing an often-used, always-pricey staple affordably and with simplicity. Our members deserve to have that promise extended to other products they use (or should use) everyday.

...One Wipe Charlies is our way of saying – boldly, indeed – we want to service your face, your ass, and everything in between."

Durbin claims that 51 per cent of men between 18-45 are already using wipes, and 16 per cent of them are doing so in place of toilet paper.

While he doesn't explain where that figure came from, a 2012 study from market research firm The Freedonia Group did forecast that the demand for wipes in the U.S. will increase 5.1 per cent over a five-year span, a gain led by growing demand for personal hygiene wipes as the "concept of wet bathroom tissue as part of a standard bathroom routine is gaining acceptance."

So perhaps Durbin is on to something, and I, as an 18-45 male, could (or should) be answering the "Call of Doodie" with an aloe vera-moistened disposable wipe delivered to me by the mailman one day.

What a world.

Learn more about "Product #2" in Dollar Shave Club's promotional video below, which you and your seven-year-old will find equally funny: