ITHACA-BASED ENTREPRENEURS PIVOT DURING COVID TO START A BUSINESS WITH THEIR KIDS
Local family invents an easy-to-use and endlessly entertaining take on a favorite gag
Introducing The Original Tooty Toob™ a new fart toy that guarantees laughs
Contact: Rebecca Bortner (414) 573-1926; rebeccabortner@stjohndg.com
ITHACA, N.Y. (September 10, 2021) – Funny bone, meet the Original Tooty Toob™ – a new fart toy for the modern age – revealed this month by local entrepreneurs Lisa and Pete St. John.
Like many successful small business owners, when the St. Johns saw their tradeshow design business slow during the pandemic, they pivoted. Together with their three kids, they thought it was a good time to start a project they could work on as a family. They started another company, 5Saints, to focus on product design and created The Original Tooty Toob.
The Original Tooty Toob delivers an awesome variety of fart sounds with an easy squeeze of your hand – no battery required. Simply, lay the end of the Toob in the center of your elbow, bend your arm to pinch it tight, and squeeze the bulb to create super sweet toot sounds that will crack a smile on even the toughest customers. The Tooty Toob produces an endless variety of realistic fart sounds as you change the strength of your squeeze (try your armpit!).
“I found an old prototype in a box while I was cleaning the basement,” said Pete St. John. “I performed some toot sounds for my family and instantly caused tears of laughter in the house.”
The St. John family proceeded to come up with pranks, gags and the occasional virtual meeting interruption.
“As we worked on it, the prototypes were often sitting on the kitchen counter. Any one of us would pick it up and instantly crack the whole family up,” said Lisa St. John. “It never got old and the laughs felt really good during a very challenging time.”
Recently added to the permanent collection at the Strong National Museum of Play, The Original Tooty Toob joins the ranks of other famous sound making toys.
“The Strong is interested in items that illustrate and document the role of play in learning and human development,” said Michelle Parnett-Dwyer, curator of dolls and toys. “The Original Tooty Toob stood out because it points to the unique ability of play to make jokes about things that might normally embarrass us and deal with awkward subjects.”
With its high-grade quality construction, it’s built to last generations – it won’t pop, run out of battery and you can take it anywhere without a giant mess. It’s great to use for pranks, games, gifts or even to record your sounds for all sorts of creative hijinks!
The reaction to Tooty Toob is priceless -- the first laugh is often a surprised laughter and then hilarity ensues as infectious laughter spreads between people.
“People usually play with it together,” said Pete St. John. “Once you make your first toot sound, immediately you want to use it to make other people laugh.”
The Original Tooty Toob retails for $19.99 and can be purchased at www.tootytoob.com and will be available soon on Amazon. It is approved for ages 6 and up. In addition, 5Saints is partnering with local hospitals to give the Original Tooty Toob to kids who have overnight stays and will split the cost with the purchaser to spread the laughter at half the price!
“We think it's a fantastic toy to bring to market after the year we’ve been through,” said Lisa St. John. “We want to make people laugh and are confident we’ve come up with a toy that will do the trick because
farts = funny.”
5Saints is a full-service team of thinkers, makers and innovators that work across disciplines to transform great ideas into robust launches. Whether implementing complex, or the simplest, of technologies - design is user-focused and geared to make meaningful products while fostering brands that last. For more information visit www.tootytoob.com, and follow The Original Tooty Toob on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.