Andrex

Andrex is a British brand of toilet roll. It is owned by the American company Kimberly-Clark. The “Andrex Puppy”, a Labrador Retriever puppy that appears on the company’s television adverts, is synonymous with the brand.

Sold in the U.S. and Australia as Kleenex Cottonelle. In Australia, the puppy is known simply as the “Kleenex Puppy” and Kleenex are a partner and supporter of Guide Dogs Australia. In The Netherlands Andrex is known as Page.

The name Andrex comes from St Andrews’s Mill in Walthamstow, where the toilet tissue was first made in 1942, the concept of two ply luxury paper having been inspired by the facial tissues used by American women as witnessed by the man who created the name Andrex, Ronald Keith Kent. It was the first 2-ply tissue.

All Andrex mainstream is made in Northfleet. While factories in Flint and Barrow in Furness supplement production on the mainline product, along with the Puppies on a roll, Aloe Vera and Quilts variations. The idea of the Andrex Puppy advertisements and ‘puppy dog’ TV commercials were established by Bowater Scott’s Marketing Director, Raymond Dinkin.

The Andrex Puppy first appeared in 1972 and since then there have been 130 different adverts featuring the puppy. In 2004, it replaced its advertising slogan Soft, Strong and very very Long, with Tuggable, Huggable softness, and recently changed to Be Kind To Your Behind.