Reddit users are stunned by new machines in Chinese public toilets that make people watch a commercial before they can get toilet paper. A clip showed someone scanning a QR code on the dispenser, sitting through a short ad, and then receiving a few squares of paper.
If you want more paper without watching another ad, the machine charges about 6 cents. Officials claim this system is meant to cut back on waste since people usually take more than they need when it is free.
The setup has been called Black Mirror stuff on Reddit. Some even joked by calling it Brown Mirror or Sometimes yellow mirror. But most of the comments were people blasting the idea.
One person said: “This would last about 5 seconds in America before it got smashed and the paper was just forcefully taken out.” Another added: “I would smash it on principle, and I’m pretty sure I have a key on my keyring capable of opening it.”
Others said they would just bring their own paper rather than deal with the machine. At the same time, some users explained that most public bathrooms in China do not supply toilet paper at all, so this is actually better than nothing.
One person said: “Lived in China for 7 years, this is an improvement. The vast majority of public toilets won’t have toilet paper. You carry around a pack yourself.”
Travelers online have also said it is smart to carry tissues and hand sanitizer in China. They explained that while hotels and big malls usually provide these basics, many older buildings or small places do not.
One added: “FYI, soap is also generally not provided anywhere except hotels and possibly very nice businesses (…). We learned quickly our first day in China to always carry small packages of tissues (available in any grocery or convenience store) and bottles of hand sanitizer (a bit harder to find in stores, so we always bring it from the USA) everywhere we went.”
