A cardboard 'penis' that allows schoolgirls to answer a call of nature without sitting on the toilet seat has been criticised as 'crass rubbish'.
The company that markets the Peedie - Cleancept Ltd, based in Kwai Chung - says it is a defence against catching Sars in the loo, but its claims have been rejected.
'It's a load of rubbish,' said Pat Johnston, chair Sha Tin College Parents Teacher Association. 'There's no connection between the toilet and catching Sars.'
Father-of-two John Shanahan was also unimpressed. 'A more crass piece of advertising I haven't seen in a long while,' he said.
According to marketing material, the 'power of Peedie' could leave schools flush with profits. The company says that even if schools sold only one Peedie a day to 200 schoolgirls for a month at $3.50-$4 each at a mark-up of $2.50, that would give them a profit of around $120,000 a year.
'Not only is this scare-mongering, but it is being pushed to the schools as a profit-making exercise,' said Mr Shanahan, who is also vice-chairman of the English Schools Foundation (ESF).