It’s Friday & Sydney Water: Toilet Blockers confess their errant behaviour

Sydney Waters’ humour continues to remind Sydneysiders to manage water better in a new campaign by It’s Friday. After calling out Water Wasters via the 10-year-old self of protagonist, Bob aka popular comedian, Shane Jacobson, the new campaign takes on people’s dirty little toilet secret – flushing things other than toilet paper.

Only three things should ever be flushed down the toilet, Sydney Water, reminds people – pee, poo, and toilet paper. Alarmingly, 55% of Sydneysiders still think it’s okay to flush more than the ‘3Ps’, resulting in over 20,000 sewer blockages a year, with a clean-up cost of $27million.

This campaign calls out Toilet Blockers in a series of commercials set in a support group called Toilet Blockers Anonymous, where great toilet “sins” are confessed. The campaign’s simple message aims to break people’s bad flushing habits.

Elise Barker, acting head of brand, media and marketing at Sydney Water, stated, “This is a serious issue in our wastewater network and a significant problem right across Greater Sydney. We wanted to use humour to make people think twice about what they’re flushing down the toilet. The 3Ps may be simple to learn, but we needed a memorable and engaging way to encourage people to rethink their behaviour. It’s Friday’s Toilet Blockers campaign does just that.”

Vince Lagana, CCO of It’s Friday, added, “The message is simple, if you flush inappropriately, you’re part of a hidden group of everyday Sydneysiders who must break their bad flushing habits before it breaks their toilet. You may not know it, but you are a Toilet Blocker. It’s not often you get to communicate a message that’s serious but also so awkward, it’s tailor-made for comedy. We’ve had a great time bringing it to life and we’ve all learned things along the way. Like, who knew tissues shouldn’t be flushed?”