Overweight Consumers Find Relief in "Big John"

Michael Schmitt is big. Big enough to make the simplest tasks an adventure. Like going to the bathroom.

"I'm 6-foot-7 and I weight about 350 pounds right now," Schmitt said. "I have broken toilet seats in the past."

And Schmitt is not alone. For years, big and overweight people have had to lower their backsides gingerly, careful to keep the toilet seat in one piece.

Now, a Los Angeles company is offering the solution: Plus-sized toilet seats.

"As we say, your butt's not too big, your seat's too small," said Scott Kramer, owner of Big John Toilet Seat & Support.

Kramer and his partner, John Weisman, make toilet seats for the plus-sized. They're larger, stronger and more durable than your standard seat.

"We realized that the seat hasn't changed in over a hundred years, and we thought, frankly, it was time," Weisman said.

Since manufacturing started on the Big John seat five years ago, revenues have skyrocketed. This year, they're up 60 percent. Customers have ordered toilet seats on their web site, bigjohntoiletseat.com, from around the world. 

"It's exceeded our expectations," Kramer said.

Maybe that shouldn't be surprising, though. According to statistics from the CDC, they should have plenty of customers: 34 percent of Americans over the age 20 are obese, and 67% are overweight.

And many of them can use some much-needed bathroom relief.

"This thing is like a Cadillac," Schmitt said. "It changed my life. It's great."

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