A Mexican lawyer is planning on helping migrants and make people "feel great again" with the help of his toilet paper brand—Trump.
Corporate lawyer Antonio Battaglia was appalled at the language Donald Trump used during his presidential campaign to describe Mexicans. In an email exchange with Newsweek, the lawyer-turned-businessman recalls how he felt when Trump launched his campaign by suggesting Mexicans who came to the U.S. were criminals, drug traffickers and rapists.
"I felt the need and obligation of raising my hand against such dangerous nonsense that was putting at risk my country and people," he tells Newsweek .
The idea of branding a toilet paper with the word "Trump" started as a joke ahead of the election. The "Trump paper" account was created on both Facebook and Twitter at the beginning of November, alongside a hashtag that translated as "clean yourself with Trump" ("Limpiate Con Trump" in Spanish). But after November 9, it was no longer a laughing matter.
"Once he won, we had to stop the fun approach and focus seriously on developing a product not based on a mockery but based on a response to an insult, based on helping migrants," Battaglia says. The goal, he adds, is not to offend, but to create a product that inspires people to help those in need.
The lawyer, who is still doing his day job, speaks fondly of the United States. "I actually love that country and its people," he says, explaining how he was first brought to the U.S. as a 2-year-old child to undergo heart surgery in Texas. He returned at age 13 for another heart operation, then again after finishing high school to learn English with a family in Boston, and finally studied for a Master's Degree in Law at New York University (NYU) as the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship from the U.S. government.
"I am very grateful to U.S. people and feel strongly bounded to them," he says, adding that he hoped his efforts, "can also help such great people to overcome this daylight nightmare called Donald Trump."
Battaglia trademarked the word "trump" for his product, rolls of soft toilet paper, since President Trump, despite turning his names into a multi-million dollar business brand for hotels, restaurants, clothes and accessories, has not applied the trademark to hygienic products.
The production of the toilet paper is still in a start-up phase and Battaglia is still open for capital funding and for partners both in Mexico and abroad to help expand the business. For now, the plan is to roll out a limited amount of the product on Mexican grocery stores' shelves by the end of the year.
The initial distribution will aim at low and medium income markets and will be competitively priced, Battaglia says. A preliminary marketing image of the product packaging shows a cartoon character giving a thumbs-up, spotting Trump's signature hairstyle, with the slogan "Softness without borders" and "This is how you can support migrants." On the back of the package, an image of toilet paper rolls stacked up together is the background to the slogan "This is the wall we are going to pay for."
Battaglia pledged 30 percent of the profits to well-established non-profit organizations that offer legal advice to migrants and deportees, so "as to fight back unjust immigration policies and red tape", he explains. By helping people in need, he believes the product can make customers "feel great again."
