Non-Profit iDE's World Toilet Day Installation Raises Awareness of Lack of Toilet Access around the World

Every day, more than 1,300 children under the age 5 die from diarrhea, because they lack access to adequate sanitation systems.

To raise awareness about this critical issue and encourage people to take action, global nonprofit, iDE will mark World Toilet Day on November 19 by unveiling its Support-A-Potty installation in the heart of New York City.

Conceptualised and executed in partnership with brand marketing accelerator agency Fortnight Collective and The Experiential Group (Production), the installation features eight restrooms in a trailer which will be parked in Soho, on Broadway between Spring and Broome streets, a neighborhood known for its lack of public toilets.

The installation will bring much-needed relief to New Yorkers and sets the backdrop for a larger conversation about the fact that one in two people across the world don’t have a toilet at home. 

On the outside of the trailer, messaging proclaims, in typical New York style, “If we can improve toilet access here, we can improve it anywhere.”

Another says, “Looking for a bathroom? You're in luck. We've got one right here for you. But not everyone is as lucky. There are 4.5 billion people around the world who don't have a toilet at home.” 

An exterior message cuts to the chase: “So while you're doing your business in here, you can go online and show your support for everyone out there. You'll probably be on your phone anyway.”

Lizz Ellis, iDE’s CEO says it is estimated that almost half of the world’s population doesn’t have access to safe, clean toilets at home. “As a result, almost 500,000 children die each year from diarrheal diseases. iDE’s market-based approach to ending poverty includes working in countries like Ethiopia, Cambodia, Ghana and Bangladesh, where we are powering entrepreneurs to market toilets and improve access to sanitation,” says Ellis. “Through iDE’s global sanitation programs, we’ve helped over six million people gain access to a toilet at home.”

Among the in-stall signage are such messages as: 

• This toilet was easy to find. 1.7 billion people around the world don't have that luxury.

• For half the world, what you're sitting on is a luxury.

• You did the impossible. You found a toilet in NYC.

• 1.7 billion people wish they were in your place right now. No, seriously.

QR codes invite toilet users to learn more about iDE and make donations to help expand toilet access around the world.

“We wanted to call out the lack of toilet access in the world in a place where people would understand what it was like to not be able to find a bathroom: NYC.” says Anna Delaney, Art Director at Fortnight Collective. 

Besides the messages inside and outside the trailer, the campaign includes video content capture, T-shirts, influencer outreach/branded package, wild postings, social posts, digital banners, and a landing page at ideglobal.com/support-a-potty.

“The United Nations recognizes November 19 as World Toilet Day each year as a day to highlight the inequities in toilet access around the world,” says KC Koch, VP Global Communications & Marketing. “iDE believes that toilet access is a basic human right, and this day serves as the perfect platform to champion this right.”