Well, 2009 doesn’t just mean cool cars and advanced cellphone technology. It also means new and improved products for the potty.  Take a look at some of these new things that make the bathroom experience that much more pleasant. Don’t ask me why or how I found these. Seriously.

Poof
This latest product does exactly what it says. It literally makes the smell of your poop go “Poof!” This liquid deodorizer traps the odors of the big brown boys in the water, releasing a refreshing scent of Japanese mint to fill the air. Unlike an air freshener that can just leave the bathroom smelling like misty grossness (fresh spring breeze + poop = fresh and springy poop), Poof traps the odors before they can even try to escape the toilet. No more worries about having to hold it in after your hot date at a Mexican restaurant.

Go girl
Whoever said guys are the only ones that can stand when going to the bathroom? Just because they get to avoid the unsanitary toilet seats that get exposed to way too many butts in a day, doesn’t mean we can’t too!

iCarta
Okay, so this one may be a tad bit unnecessary, but it sure is freakin’ cool. It’s a toilet paper dispenser with a built in iPod dock and speakers. Because pooping is so much more fun when you’re doin’ it with the Kings of Leon.

LavNav
If you’re like me, even the slightest light can wake you up and keep you up. Especially when that light comes from the bathroom when you have to do a little pee pee in the middle of the night. But you know from experience that attempting to take a middle-of-the-night bathroom trip sans lights only leads to wet floors and a giant bump on your head.  Welcome the LavNav. This automatic light turns on when you approach the toilet in the dark, and turns off after you leave, lighting up only the areas you need. Best part is, this energy efficient product uses really cool red and green light. It’s like a disco toilet.

Other fun idea: bring your laptop. There is some sort of sick pleasure that comes from IMing your friends from the bathroom stall. What, just me?

Luckily some of my stress can be relieved now that I found Bathroom Finder.

Just put the zipcode where you intend to be into the website, and voila! It comes up with a list of the bathrooms in that location. It’s not exactly perfect. It says there are only 5 bathrooms in the area where I live. Maybe I’m just a seasoned bathroom finding veteran, but I can tell you a few more. Still, this site could be vital in my everyday life. And if you have an Internet accessing phone, even better. No matter where you are, you can always be assured a bathroom is near by.

I like this website so much that I don’t really care that it’s run by Imodium.com. Or that it says on the site, “To put your mind at ease, it’s good to know where the bathrooms are — even if your diarrhea is under control.” When a girl’s gotta go, a girl’s gotta go.

And now she can have some piece of mind.

Drinking too much is bad. Urging people to drink safely and stay away from their car after a few beers is good. Using a half-naked chick to tell people drinking too much is bad, especially if they want to drive…is confusing.

Arrive Alive, an organization devoted to ending drunk driving, has recently begun a prevention campaign that consists of lifelike stickers of a totally wasted girl in both men’s and women’s restrooms. The girl in the men’s restroom sticker is sitting with her thigh-high stockinged legs apart, eyes drooping, as though she’s just stumbled into the wrong bathroom and collapsed on the floor. I’ll sober up when I’m behind the wheel, her black shirt states.

The same girl is featured in the women’s restroom sticker, except this time, she’s on all fours, presuming throwing up, her thong underwear clearly showing. I just need to get it out of my system, her shirt explains.

While the idea is certainly a good one, I wonder why the campaign is using a barely-clothed girl as their image. Surely they’re not saying all women who drink too much are sluts? Surely they’re not saying women are the only ones who make stupid decisions when it comes to alcohol? Surely they’re not trying to turn men on, perpetuating the “drunk and easy” stereotype?

The argument that an image of a scantily clad girl catches people’s eye is kind of bullshit when we’re talking about a campaign intended to produce healthy choices. How healthy is it to use a wasted girl to get the attention of men? How healthy is it to emphasize a drunk woman’s sexuality?

What do you think? Just enough shock to scare people straight? Or sexually exploitive?