Come on, this is not good news. I already have to rip pages (with extreme prejudice) out of magazines that are doused with some foul smelling perfume, now I will have to get a nose guard to avoid billboards and bus stops! Speaking of John Waters, IIRC, he made an attempt at smell-o-vision (Odorama) as part of a film years ago. He apparently was not the first to think of the concept.
Advertisers trying selling through smelling - April 1, 2007
It's not enough to have your customers' eyes and ears--now you need to attract their noses too. This month, 100 gas stations in California will be trying technology that wafts coffee aroma at the pump in a bid to tempt its pay-and-go customers into the store for java.Clear Channel, meanwhile, is experimenting with scented billboards. USA Today and the Wall Street Journal are set to offer “rub and sniff” newspaper ads. And some retailers are also preparing products with added smell.
Wal-Mart is rolling out experimental DVDs with “smell-o-vision,” electronic scent wafers that release the odor of a burning building, say, or a freshly fired gun, at precisely timed moments during the movie.
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Depending on consumer reaction, of course, this could turn out to be a short-lived--and expensive--fad. In December, San Francisco bus shelters were equipped with chocolate chip cookie-fragranced strips for a “Got Milk?” campaign. Days later, transit authorities tore down the strips after commuters complained that they were triggering allergic reactions.
Tags: smelly
