In an unconventional move that could, um, wipe the competition, Lewes FC has announced a two-year partnership with eco-friendly toilet paper company Who Gives A Crap. The deal will see the profit-for-purpose brand featured as the UK soccer club's front-of-shirt sponsor for its home and away kits.
Stef McLoughlin, Lewes FC's Commercial Manager, hailed the partnership as "the perfect alignment of two purpose-driven organizations joining forces to create change." Who Gives A Crap donates 50% of its profits to improve sanitation worldwide (roughly 40% of the global population doesn't have access to a toilet) and has already raised over GBP 7 million. Lewes FC, meanwhile, is the world's first professional or semi-professional club to treat female and male players equally, offering them the same playing budgets and training facilities. Gender equality is a central theme for the toilet paper brand, too, since women and girls are disproportionally affected by a lack of running water and adequate sanitation systems.
"This is not your normal sponsorship; it's about driving donations, not fame," says Emily Kraftman, UK MD of Who Gives A Crap. That said, the brand is known for its colorful paper wrappers and applied a similarly bold design to Lewes FC's away shirts, resulting in an eye-catching print — with that equally audacious brand name — that's guaranteed to help spread the word about its mission, on and off the soccer field.