Winnie-the-Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood is deforested in toilet paper brand’s update of the children’s classic

Memories from childhood carry powerful emotions, which is why a new campaign from toilet-paper brand Who Gives A Crap cuts deep with its devastating environmental message. The brand has taken the classic 1926 children’s book “Winnie-the-Pooh” by A.A. Milne and re-illustrated it with many of the trees cut down, to highlight the impact of deforestation across the globe. The book entered the public domain in 2022, making it fair game for this kind of reimagining. The story remains unchanged, but many of the illustrations are heartbreakingly revised to shows stumps where grand trees once stood. The goal is to illustrate the effect that traditional toilet paper production—by Who Gives A Crap’s rivals—is having on the thinning of forests. “Winnie-The-Pooh: The Deforested Edition” is available as a download on Who Gives A Crap’s website. A first run of physical copies has already sold out, with proceeds going to companies working to provide clean water and sanitation everywhere by 2050. But a second run is planned—visitors to the website can sign up to be notified of when they can order. It’s a meticulously designed book, sustainably created with recycled paper with a blind debossed and gold foil stamped cover on custom blue bookcloth. The beauty of the design only makes its dark transformation into bleak “Giving Tree” territory that much more distressing. “Arguably the most beloved children’s book of all time, many of us have fond memories of reading ‘Winnie-The-Pooh’ and transporting ourselves into Pooh’s adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood,” said Danny Alexander, co-founder of Who Gives A Crap. “By ‘deforesting’ this iconic imaginary land, we hope to shine a light on the fact that every day over 1 million trees are destroyed to make traditional toilet paper.” He added: “Globally, we continue to blissfully wipe and ignore the impact large-scale toilet paper production has on the environment around us. Making small changes to your everyday toilet routine can make a big difference.” Who Gives A Crap’s toilet paper is made from 100% recycled paper or bamboo. This isn’t the first “Winnie-the-Pooh” remix since the book entered the public domain. Last year, Mint Mobile and Ryan Reynolds reimagined it as “Winnie-the-Screwed,” whose abundance of honey has been swapped for copious wireless charges. The year before that, Disney and Airbnb recreated Winnie-the-Pooh’s home as a “Bearbnb” as part of 95th anniversary celebration of the beloved character.

Winnie-the-Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood is deforested in toilet paper brand’s update of the children’s classic

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