Towlie first appeared in South Park in 2001, in an episode named after him, as a talking towel who is almost always high and cheerfully unbothered by the chaos around him. His laid-back personality and repeated drug jokes made him a cult favourite among fans, and short clips of his voice later spread through meme pages, reaction videos, and soundboards. The character remains popular because the joke needs no setup for South Park viewers, making a one-second Towlie line an easy shorthand for being stoned, lazy, or happily out of touch.