While going through my inbox in preparation for a long-overdue links roundup, I found a number of emails I'd received from bathroom entrepreneurs eager to capture the attention of the coveted PoopReport market.
Back in June, for instance, Chris Brown (seriously!) wrote: "I stumbled onto your site while doing some research. I invented and patented and am now manufacturing in China a product that will eliminate this problem once and for all! Yes, I took the stink out of shit! Even YOU can't smell it! When you go!
"Check out the attached brochure (work in progress). The product should be available within a year!"
Also in June, Richard Cairns wrote: "Our company has developed a new portable home urinal and we would be grateful for you to let us know what you think of the idea. Here are a couple of pictures to enable your readers to see what the product in question actually is. Of course, we are aware that most men can aim in the right direction -- but there are those that simply don't care and aren't too considerate of their female counterparts, or, when inebriated, aren't able to shoot straight. So we hope that this will be a solution for them also."
In August, Steve Isaacson of aSwipe, Inc. (seriously!) wrote: "Things are moving with my product: The Bidet Spray. We are being tested in a few chains and I recently started to sell my product online. Here's a little copy from our site: 'Why Use The Bidet Spray? Dry Tissue Alone Is Not Enough! Moistened Tissue Cleans Better.'"
In November, Ian wrote in: "I'm not sure if you're a Facebook user or not, but I've created a Facebook application that allows people to poop on their friends (figuratively) and various aspects of their friends lives. It's called Pooply.
"The whole point of the application is to gather money from ad revenue and t-shirts and stuff, which can then be donated to a non-profit research company called OneWorld Health, which is trying to fight diarrhea, the number two cause of death in unindustrialized countries (behind malaria). Apparently the cause doesn't get much support because it's poop-related. However, since people are uncomfortable with poop, it becomes intrinsically funny -- a phenomenon which can be exploited to bring people's attention (and, inadvertently, money) to the diarrhea problem that they would otherwise ignore."
Finally, Pat Kelly from Pet Butler wrote in right before Christmas with this: "Dave -- I am still creating various poop for marketing purposes and having a fun time dooing it. I have included pics from our Christmas parade in Lexington, Kentucky."
