During the German federal election in 2017, the tone and manners of the right-wing campaigns evoked memories from the Third Reich. Right-wing populists spread their fascist propaganda all over the country and stirred up hatred among the Germans.

For Goldeimer, a toilet paper producer with political attitude, the situation needed to change. The pointless hate had to turn into something good.

The goal was an activating and inspiring campaign, resulting in a unique costumer experience. In cooperation with thousands of volunteers, hate propaganda from right-wing populists should be removed from the streets. Then, Goldeimer aimed to produce “Shitty Paper – Made from hate” and sell it to their supporters – giving the volunteers a tangible result from their efforts and starting an international discussion about right-wing politics.

Goldeimer’s “Shitty Paper – Made from hate” is the first toilet paper made out of recycled hate propaganda. In close cooperation with volunteers from many German cities, truckloads of hateful prints were collected. This paper was shredded and recycled to become “Shitty Paper – Made from hate”. By activating as many volunteers as possible, the project promised to be very successful and to create a unique costumer experience. Volunteers would help with the production process from the beginning and could later receive the result of their own work by buying “Shitty Paper – Made from hate”.

Every German citizen concerned about the influence of right-wing populists was part of the target audience, whether they already fought right-wing populism or waited for an opportunity to do so.

The focus was on social media. Calls-to-action via Facebook and contact to influencers, magazines and blogs were the most important ways to increase communication. Also, the extensive media coverage of the German federal election was used to spread the word about “Shitty Paper – Made from hate”.

The target audience was met right where the project was realized: at demonstrations against right-wing party events. Further, different social media channels were used to approach them. The range was greatly increased by German and international media.

Free Hatred Collection Kits were distributed at right-wing party events. The hateful prints were shredded and recycled to become “Shitty Paper – Made from hate”.

Facebook, contact to influencers, magazines and blogs were the most important ways of communication.

Timeline

- September 2017: collection in numerous German cities

- September 24th 2017: federal election for the parliament

- October 2017: paper shredding, pre-sales promotion

- November 2017: pre-sales promotion, production

- December 2017: packaging and sale of Shitty Paper

Goldeimer accompanied the federal election for several months and acquired thousands of volunteers all over Germany. Truckloads of hate propaganda were collected and Goldeimer produced thousands of toilet paper rolls from it. The work became trending topic on Twitter, reached over 10 million people in four months and was reported by major international media like VICE and Al Jazeera.

100 % of the profits were donated to CURA. Starting with 0 €, a media value of over 1.6 million euros was generated.

In just four months, the project reached over 10 million people and became a trending topic on Twitter. Many considerable newspapers reported about “Shitty Paper – Made from hate” in a very positive way. The product itself was completely sold out in less than 24 hours.

All volunteers demonstrated great effort in collecting the hate propaganda and donating to those in need. Even non-political people were excited to participate. Together, they turned ideas of hate into something you can laugh your ass off about.

The unusual calls to action by Goldeimer raised awareness of how much hate was actually spread in Germany and started an international discussion about right-wing politics. The positive PR created by major media and the social media outputs carried this discussion.