Miki Agrawal is shaking the status quo in American bathrooms. Her innovative product line for toilets everywhere is called TUSHY, and the name says it all. TUSHY is a line of sleek and modern bidets and accessories for the discriminating pooper. That’s right. TUSHY evolved out of a personal need (Miki Agrawal’s) to make the process of pooping—or rather the process of cleaning up after the poop—not only easier but shockingly pleasant.
If the idea of using scratchy toilet paper makes you break out in painful rashes, you’re not alone. That’s pretty much what happened to Miki when she contracted hyperthyroidism and found that her visits to the bathroom to poop increased exponentially. With every wipe, her butt became more irritated and raw, making after-showers necessary to ease the suffering. Her sympathetic and resourceful boyfriend (whom Miki wisely married later on), did his due diligence and located what Miki discovered was an awesome solution; a bidet that was popular (for good reason) in Asia.
Miki Agrawal was no stranger to the concept of bidets, of course. Her ancestry being half Japanese and half Indian, bidets are practically in her blood. Bidets are as ubiquitous as grains of rice in both cultures. As a young woman, she didn’t even think about owning a bidet. Being a serial apartment renter doesn’t ordinarily lend oneself to owning and using a bidet. In the U.S., bidets are rare and it’s common for most people not to have experienced the joys of a bidet until an anniversary vacation to Europe exposes their bare bottoms to the joys of sprinkling water on their undercarriages.
Once Miki saw how much the bidet changed her outlook on pooping—or at least the wiping part of pooping—she was determined to bring the bidet to the hearts and butts of Americans everywhere. Working on a sleek and elegant design that would marry the Asian aesthetic with American cultural expectations, she created TUSHY.
TUSHY began as just one bidet, but the product line has expanded to include variations and accessories. People can choose the TUSHY that feels right for them and suits their pooping style the best.
Miki Agrawal’s marketing style mimics her personal authenticity. Customers will find lively and colorful language that doesn’t try to hide the realities of the product behind water closet doors.
As Miki says, “There are two major aspects of our marketing that we usually include. The first is a language that is easy to understand and relate to. People despise being advertised to. They want to sense like they’re participating in stuff they appreciate. The easiest approach to achieve this is to make all of your text sound like you’re talking to your closest buddy. Break down barriers by using normal language that your consumer would use.
Second, always ensure that your visual aesthetic is on target. It matters whether it’s font size, space, or other factors. Those are important considerations. My task to my group is to question whether each design they create is refrigerator-worthy. Is this work of art so lovely anyone would want to hang it on their refrigerator? If someone else wants to put it on display in their house, you’ve done your job.
