The Ugly Lesson of Pretty Toilet Paper

By Les Mottosky

The other day I noticed a roll of toilet paper embossed with flowers and hearts. At first it seemed absurd: 'Romance on a perforated sheet? Really?! ' But the more I thought about it, it's a resonant symbol of the deep deceptions we live in every day.

The decorative embossing doesn’t change the product. Toilet paper is pulp, designed to be used once and flushed. The flowers and hearts are there to try and make us feel something; trust, softness, care or whatever unrelated emotion. It’s absurdity layered over single-use function. Absurd because of 'symbology versus function' for sure – but also – the symbology they chose doesn't serve a particular brand. So if I like the stuff, I wouldn't know how to re-purchase it.

Food and the packaging it comes wrapped in is deceptive too; smiling cows and leafy greens that disguise industrial – sometimes toxic – production. Organic stickers on produce that isn't remotely organic. Governments do it too: flags and false slogans that cover power struggles and hidden outside influences. Sports wraps profit machines in stories of “heart,” “passion,” and “legacy.” And Hollywood, one of the most aggressive purveyors of 'symbology over sincerity', pushes plastic surgery addicts as ideal sex symbols.

Everywhere we look, our culture provides surface-level symbology pressed onto reality. We can assume this is to soothe us, reassure us and distract us. But above all it's to sell us. If not an actual product, then a reality of their creation.

One of the most high-profile examples of this is the 1949 rebrand of the US 'Department of War' to the 'Department of Defense'. That's a bit like calling a branch of your local EMS 'Fire Preventers' instead of 'Fire Fighters'. It's half true and half hmm...

This roll of toilet paper is just the most recent example. With it, we know what’s underneath. But in the rest of our culture, the decoration has become the thing itself. We buy the branding, not the substance. We vote for the image, not the policy. We cheer for the myth, not the game.

The lesson is simple and obvious: we gotta' stop confusing the sizzle for the steak. The hearts don’t make the paper soft, just as slogans don’t make a leader honest. Peel back the flowers and you see what you’re really holding.

Because we can only navigate reality when we know what it really is.

Unless we learn to tell pulp from pattern, we’ll be wiping ourselves with lies.

TAGS: #Irreverent Strategies #Cognitive Catalysts #Wisdom In Leadership #Adaptation As Innovation #Observing Life

Les Mottosky

Adaptation Strategist // I help organizations turn creativity into their competitive advantage by aligning leadership, culture, and strategy to unlock adaptive innovations.

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lesmottosky@mac.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/les-mottosky-9b94527/