China Insider, a Chinese news outlet with 1.27 million followers, posted a video showing a woman using a “smart tissue dispenser” in a public toilet.
The woman scans the QR code on the tissue dispenser with her mobile phone and watches the advertisement on the screen. By the end of the 10-second advertisement, a short line of tissue automatically appears from the dispenser.
In order to use tissue paper in some public toilets in the local area, it is known that they have to watch advertisements like this or pay 0.5 yuan per line. On the tissue dispenser and wall, phrases such as “Free tissue if you scan the QR code,” “Receive non-face-to-face tissue,” and “Free and more hygienic” were written.
The system was introduced to reduce waste of tissues. However, some netizens are saying, “What if I leave my cell phone behind or have no batteries?” and “China is more capitalistic than the U.S.”
In the past, the Chinese side has attempted to save on the use of public toilet paper. In 2017, a face recognizer was introduced in Beijing’s leading tourist destination, Cheondan Park, providing only 60cm-long tissues for one scan, and limiting the same person to wait 9 minutes to receive tissues again.
SALLY LEE
US ASIA JOURNAL
