In what it’s calling an “experimental marketing” campaign, Procter & Gamble has temporarily converted a Times Square storefront at 1540 Broadway between West 45th and 46th Streets to a bank of 20 public toilets. Dubbed the Charmin Restrooms, the stalls are staffed by attendant-janitors and include baby changing stations, stroller parking, seating areas, tourist information and aromatherapy. They’re open 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily and according to Charmin’s brand manager, guarantee “an irreplaceable bathroom experience in the heart of Times Square.”
I guess that’d be compared to the everyday bathroom experiences of bums that lend the area’s subway stations their piquancy of urine and poo. (My secret maneuver when nature calls on Times Square is to ascend a flight or two at the Marriott Marquis Hotel and use their surprisingly clean and sparsely attended “public” restrooms.) This should be an interesting experiment in attempted cleanliness and prevention of illicit activities associated with public restrooms, particularly with the city apparently still mulling options for its own banks of public pay toilets.