"CHARMIN WIPES OUT BEARS" Ad Campaign Alerts Consumers to P&G Trashing Canada's Boreal Forests to Make Toilet Paper

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today environmental groups launched the "Charmin Wipes Out Bears" and "Charmin Wipes Out Forests" advertising campaign alerting consumers that Procter & Gamble destroys Canada's boreal forests to make toilet paper and other disposable paper products. Spearheaded by Charmin Kills Forests / Friends of the Choco LLC, the campaign is endorsed Stand.earth, Rainforest Action Network, Friends of the Earth, and Mighty Earth.

The ads feature a crying bear dispossessed of its habitat, a poop emoji narrating video of forest destruction, and a talking butt claiming Charmin is "environmentally friendly." Social media posts skewer Charmin's feel-good advertising and cuddly bear mascots with images of deracinated bears and decimated forests. "Squeezably soft. Diabolically destructive." says one. "Charmin left a skid mark on our future," says another. 

P&G sources virgin pulp from Canada's boreal forests to make Charmin and other paper products, driving clearcutting (including of old growth stands), releasing vast amounts of stored carbon, and destroying bear, caribou, and bird habitat. Logged land is burned, plowed, sprayed with RoundUp, and covered with monoculture paper plantations that don't support wildlife and burn like matchsticks in wildfires. Yet P&G claims its products are sustainably sourced.

For years, scientists, advocates, and P&G family members petitioned the company to change. Environmental groups annually decry its continuing use of virgin forest fiber. Last year US and Canadian consumers filed class action lawsuits suing P&G for greenwashing. Organizers say the new ad campaign can help persuade P&G to change practices by appealing directly to consumers. 

In August the US imposed a 50% tariff on Canadian forest pulp, and last week Canada retaliated. "Tariffs are another sign that boreal forest sourcing is untenable and broken," said Jim Epstein, great-great-grandson of industrialist James Gamble who co-founded Procter & Gamble in 1837. "P&G can't delay any longer. Change has been a long time coming, and the time has come. Hopefully the 'Charmin Wipes Out Forests' campaign will help bring the urgency home to P&G executives."

"Their competitors are doing it, and so can P&G," said Brian Rodgers of Friends of the Choco In 2024 Kimberly-Clark, makers of Scott Tissue, Cottonelle, and Kleenex, committed to eliminating forest fiber from its product line. "That's where the market is headed, and P&G should head there too if they don't want to lose market share," Rodgers said. 

https://charminkillsforests.org/

Contact: Brian Rodgers, [email protected], 512-496-5838

SOURCE Charmin Kills Forests