And Folks Wonder Why Toyota Has Overtaken Ford, and May Soon Overtake GM

Toyota will be the world's largest automaker, it's only a matter of time.

But this post isn't about Toyota, rather it's about the attention to detail and responsiveness to consumer needs that is a hallmark of the more successful companies throughout the globe, but especially in Japan.

Look no further than this piece about the Aico Co., makers of . . ., well, ummm, read the article, here's a quote

Getting the poop on Tokyo-based Aico. Co may be a bit more literal than most bargained for considering the novelty toy maker is best known for its scatological sense of humor, judging by Spa! (8/8).

Aico proudly boasts that is best products are shitty; which shouldn't really come as a surprise since it's Japan's prime producer of poop ashtrays -- turd-shaped cigarette butt receptacles that come in three different "flavors" of vegetarian, carnivore and piscivore.

Each of the ashtray types has its own distinctive appearance determined by the diet of its supposed consumer and supposed to provide authenticity.

"We first made a poop ashtray in 1988. Everybody sees poop every day of their lives, which made us wonder why people think it's so dirty," Nobuyoshi Masuzawa, a member of the Aico board of directors, tells Spa! "Our president at the time figured we could probably use poop to get ourselves a few laughs."

After a grueling process that involved the company scaling the globe to find a manufacturer capable of providing precisely the right textured materials so that it wasn't just producing any old crap, Aico settled on Spanish dirt and set about crafting its caca. Having the finest fake feces, though, simply wasn't enough and Aico got bogged down when it came to sales.

Would an American company scour the globe, just to find the proper dirt with which to make their novelties? Would an American company bother with three distinct styles of product based on the output of vegetarians, carnivores, and piscivores?

(of course, would consumers anywhere else buy this crap in sizable quantities? . . . OK, besides Germany, that is, they take their crap very seriously, too)

And, speaking of CRAP, check out the FUDGEREPORT.