(Photo: Duke.edu)

Perhaps disgruntled Yammer CEO David Sacks was right. With so few good ideas out there to execute on, perhaps we really are in the twilight of Silicon Valley. And even if a company does have a good idea, don't even mention the M word (monetization, spoken in a whisper), lest you incite the rabid boos of the NYC tech set.

But we have to imagine that this end-times mentality is what led a Michigan startup to hinge its entire business on getting companies to advertise on toilet paper. It's a more literal take on the term "crappy advertising."

Star Toilet Paper is the brainchild of Westchester-born brothers Jordan and Bryan Silverman. According to the Courier Journal, the startup--a recent finalist for a college entrepreneurship award!--has been offering toilet paper ads since its inception in 2010. Twenty-thousand ads will set you back $99; restaurants that agree to use the toilet paper get it for free, saving them on supply costs.

According to the Journal:

The toilet paper ads feature coupon codes that consumers can redeem on Star Toilet's website, startoiletpaper.com. The company's two-ply toilet paper is made of 100 percent recycled materials and an Illinois company prints the ads using a soybean-based ink. The brothers promise that their toilet paper is safe for both users and septic systems.

Oh, and Star Toilet Paper's motto? "Don't rush. Look before you flush."

On the bright side, now when a sliver of toilet paper gets stuck to your shoe, you can just call yourself a daily deals aggregator.