The Great Toilet Paper Debate

About

Important questions such as Which is better, Coke or Pepsi?, or What came first, the chicken or the egg? have been debated since the dawn of time, but none have been more highly contested and furiously defended as Do you hang your toilet paper over or under? It is a short, yet significant question that has plagued mankind, caused relationship turmoil, and created a rift in societal norms and values. Defenders of either position cite advantages ranging from aesthetics, hospitality, and cleanliness; to paper conservation and the ease of detaching individual squares. Celebrities and experts are found on both sides. Theories abound of what one’s choice might say of a person: possibly it indicates age, or gender, or socioeconomic status, or political philosophy; possibly it offers insights into personality traits such as dependability and flexibility; possibly it correlates with ownership of a cat.

Main Arguments

According to Wikipedia there are several reasons for each orientation:

Over reduces the risk of accidentally brushing the wall or cabinet with one’s knuckles, potentially transferring grime and germs.
Over makes it easier to visually locate and to grasp the loose end.
Over gives hotels, cruise ships, and homeowners with guest bathrooms the option to fold over the last sheet to show that the room has been cleaned. See hotel toilet-paper folding.
Over is generally the intended direction of viewing for the manufacturer’s branding, so patterned toilet paper looks better this way.

Under provides a tidier appearance, in that the loose end can be more hidden from view.
Under reduces the risk that a toddler or a house pet, such as a dog or cat, will completely unroll the toilet paper when batting at the roll.
Under in a recreational vehicle may reduce unrolling during driving.

The Cottonelle Challenge

Cottonelle, a leading toilet paper company, decided to put to rest the age old debate regarding toilet paper orientation. They did a survey asking which way you prefer your toilet paper to be hung on the roll, “over” or “under”. The response was huge, over 500,000 votes were cast and the results indicated a landslide victory for the “over” crowd.

Spread

Being a common topic in /b/, it is a highly trolled subject and is usually created to cause mass distress to any opposing their preferred orientation. In other sites, it is discussed either Scientifically or Ethically .There are various youtube videos, and dozens of sites where the debate rages on.

Various External Sites

Wikipedia
Reddit
Facebook
Toilet paper debate voting site
Chan4chan
Flickr
Squidoo
Yahoo Questions
GameSpot Forums
Answer Bag
The Toilet Paper Encyclopedia

Cottonelle Roll Poll

The Great Toilet Paper Debate

Cat Vs. Toilet paper