An anonymous BB reader says:
This is a little odd thing for people who don't want to touch toilet seats. It's a porcelain handle to lift 'em! Apparently porcelain won't let bacteria grow like plastic might, so it makes a sort of odd sense. Of course if toilet seats were made out of porcelain still this wouldn't be a problem, but then think how cold the seat would be in the winter — we'd need an electric tushy warmer (although I bet Toto and Kohler already have 'em). What I'd really like to see is a toilet seat ringed with dozens of these things, like some sort of toilet stegasaurus.
Update:
BB reader Maya Stosskopf says, "I don't know if it is still there, but for at least 15 years there was a lone billboard for this product (or a similair one) near my hometown in rural northern Illinois and the text of the billboard read avoid fecal fingers!".
JayPee provides proof, via Kottke.
Link.