Oh, These Men

Since the early 1990s, a peculiar detail has appeared in the men’s restrooms at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, helping solve the cleanliness problem. Small images of flies were placed at the bottom of the urinals. Men instinctively try to “hit the target,” so there are noticeably fewer misses, and cleaning takes less time.

The idea turned out to be so successful that it began to be used around the world. Such “targets” appeared in airports and public buildings, and at the University of Louisville they even placed the logo of rival University of Kentucky instead of flies — with the same practical effect.