Who Gives A Crap launched in 2012 with a crowdfunding stunt and a consumables subscription: recurring boxes of toilet paper delivered to the door, with 50% of profits donated to sanitation charities. The subscription proved demand and built the brand. Since 2023 it has expanded into Waitrose, Whole Foods and Tesco, with UK revenue reaching £51.7 million in the year to June 2025.
Key takeaways
- In 2012 co-founder Simon Griffiths sat on a toilet for 50 hours to crowdfund about A$50,000 for the first production run.
- A subscription solved the economics of shipping a bulky, low-value product direct to customers.
- Retail came later: Waitrose and Whole Foods in 2023, Tesco in July 2025, and more than half of Australian supermarkets.
- UK revenue rose to £51.7 million (up 13.5%) in the year to June 2025. The subscription became the loyal core, not the whole business.
In 2012, a man sat on a toilet for 50 hours.
Not because he was unwell. Because he was raising money.
Simon Griffiths, co-founder of Who Gives A Crap, sat on that toilet to crowdfund the company's first production run. It raised about A$50,000. And it told you everything about the brand that was coming: funny, a bit cheeky, and impossible to forget.
Toilet paper is about as boring as a product gets. That's exactly why the business model was so clever.
Why did Who Gives A Crap start with a subscription?
Because of the economics of a bulky, cheap product.
Toilet paper takes up a lot of space and doesn't cost much. Shipping one pack to someone's door makes no sense. Shipping a 24- or 48-roll box, on a schedule, to someone who's committed to keep buying? That works.
This is the book's consumables model. In The Subscription Playbook I talk about my favorite peppermint tea, which lands on my doorstep every four weeks. I don't think about it. I never run out. That's the whole value: a mundane task, automated.
Who Gives A Crap added a twist. 50% of profits go to sanitation charities. So you weren't just buying toilet paper. You were buying toilet paper that did some good, which is a much better story to tell your friends.
Griffiths himself admits the brand's success may be down to its colorful packaging. (When your product is toilet paper, the box is the marketing.)
How did a subscription brand get into supermarkets?
Slowly, and once the brand was strong.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 50-hour toilet stunt crowdfunds about A$50,000 |
| 2021 | A$41.5 million in growth capital from Verlinvest and others |
| 2023 | Launches in Waitrose (UK) and Whole Foods Market (US) |
| By mid-2025 | In more than half of Australian supermarkets |
| July 2025 | Launches in Tesco (UK) |
Griffiths told The Guardian he wants the brand in every UK supermarket within 30 years.
What do the numbers show?
UK filings, summarized in a Causeartist case study, show steady growth:
| Year to June | UK revenue | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | £45.5 million | Up 17%, with operating profit more than doubling to £2.8 million |
| 2025 | £51.7 million | Up 13.5% |
Cumulative donations have passed A$20.8 million, against a goal of A$50 million by 2028.
And the subscription didn't disappear when the supermarkets came. It became the loyal core, while retail brought reach.
My take
In the book I warn that just selling dog biscuits on subscription doesn't protect you. I could find the same supplier, put up a template website overnight, and we'd be competing. Who Gives A Crap faced the same risk. Anyone can sell recycled toilet paper by subscription. What they can't copy is a brand people share and a purpose people buy into. That's the moat.
Why did it work?
Look at it through the book's MOATS framework.
M is for Marketing supremacy. A toilet stunt, packaging people photograph, and a name you can't forget. The brand did a lot of work that paid ads would otherwise have had to do.
A is for Audience. The 50% promise built a community of customers who feel good about staying. That's loyalty you can't buy with a discount.
And the subscription itself proved demand. Repeat orders, by region, over years. That's exactly the kind of evidence a supermarket buyer wants before giving you shelf space.
You can score your own business on all five factors with the MOATS scorecard, or read the full MOATS framework.
Launch on a shoestring, the way they did
Feed a Starving Crowd has a full chapter on crowdfunding and launch stunts. Download it free.
Is going into retail always the right move?
No. And it's worth being clear about why.
Retail brings reach, but it costs margin. The retailer takes a cut, controls the shelf, and owns the customer relationship at checkout. You lose the data a subscription gives you.
Who Gives A Crap moved into retail more than a decade after launch, with a strong brand and a profitable UK business. A young consumables brand rushing into supermarkets before it's built loyalty risks becoming just another product on a shelf. Compare the very different path of Dollar Shave Club, which built a consumables subscription with a famous launch video and ended up somewhere quite different.
What can you steal from Who Gives A Crap?
- Make the unboxing shareable. Packaging is marketing when the product itself is boring.
- Put the purpose in the price. "50% of profits" is a reason to pay a bit more, and a reason to stay.
- Launch with a story, not an ad budget. A memorable stunt can fund and promote you at once. Crowdfunding is one way to do both.
- Use subscription data to pitch retailers. Order frequency and region data are proof of repeat demand.
- Keep the subscription when you expand. It's your most loyal, highest-margin customer group.
If you're thinking about a consumables product, start with the consumables subscription model and the e-commerce subscriptions guide.
What to do next
Ask yourself: what does my customer buy over and over, without enjoying the shopping? That's your consumables subscription.
Then ask the harder question: if someone copied my product tomorrow, why would customers stay with me?
Subscription Model SelectorAnswer 8 questions and find the subscription model that fits.Open the free tool →Frequently asked questions
Is Who Gives A Crap still a subscription business?
Yes, in part. It still sells recurring deliveries direct to customers, and that subscription base is its most loyal group. But since 2023 it has added major supermarkets in the UK, US and Australia. The subscription now sits alongside retail rather than being the only channel.
Should a subscription brand go into retail?
Only once the brand is strong enough to stand out on a shelf without you there to explain it. Retail brings reach but lower margins, retailer power over pricing, and less customer data. A proven subscription gives you the evidence retailers want: repeat purchase rates and loyal customers by region.
What makes a good consumables subscription product?
Something people use up on a predictable schedule, don't enjoy shopping for, and would be annoyed to run out of. Toilet paper, coffee, tea, pet food, razors, vitamins and cleaning products all fit. If customers have to remember to reorder, there's room for a subscription to do it for them.
How do you stop competitors copying a consumables subscription?
You build moat elements the product alone can't give you. Who Gives A Crap's are its brand and its purpose: colorful packaging people share, and a public promise to donate 50% of profits. A copycat can buy the same toilet paper. It can't easily buy the story or the loyalty.
Get both books free
The Subscription Playbook (ebook + audiobook) and Feed a Starving Crowd, instantly. In Australia? Claim the free hardcover.
Robert Coorey, MBA
Robert is the author of The Subscription Playbook and Feed a Starving Crowd and a Director at BPAG Accountants in Sydney. More about Robert.
Sources
- The Guardian, On a roll: Who Gives a Crap toilet paper co-founder aims for 'world domination' (27 Jul 2025)
- Causeartist, Who Gives A Crap: Impact Business Case Study (secondary, compiles Companies House data, 2026)
- Recharge, Who Gives A Crap grew subscriptions by customizing messages for local markets (vendor case study)
Facts and prices checked 27 October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.