Billboard spews scent of delicious, mouth-watering steak
If you’ve ever driven eastbound into Toronto, there’s a stretch of road on the Gardiner Expressway – as the highway meets the lake and approaches the CN Tower – that just smells delicious.
It’s right near the Mr. Christie cookies factory, and if you catch that piece of highway at a good time of day, it’s like both him and Mrs. Fields are pumping the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip biscuits through your A/C vents.
The point? Smell is a powerful, powerful intoxicant. And if you were a food company, why wouldn’t you go about spreading your scent as a means to attract consumers?
Well, wonder no more. Introducing: the charcoal-pepper-and-steak-smell-spewing billboard.
Yes, the first scent-spraying billboard in North America has popped up in Charlotte – a towering ad for U.S. grocery chain Bloom, who is hoping to sell their new line of steaks by smell, not just reputation.
The way it works is simple, if not genius. According to the Charlotte Observer, a high-powered fan attached to the bottom of the billboard pole blows out the steak-and-pepper scent by pluming air over cartridges loaded with the fragrance.
The smell spews from the billboard, which features a giant fork stuck into a succulent piece of steak, up to 50 yards in diameter.
Bloom hopes to capitalize on its mouth-watering billboard by pumping the steak smell out during both the morning and afternoon rush hours. Charlotte motorists beware.
If there’s a reason scented billboards haven’t yet taken off, it’s because of tricky logistics, wrinkles that the Bloom steak board hopes to iron out.
For one, different weather patterns could render the scented fragrance cartridges useless, as one strong wind this way or that might not let you smell the intended aroma unless you’re standing right next to the ad.
But that doesn’t mean, with a little trial-and-error, this couldn’t be the future of roadside marketing. Somewhere, the nation’s truckers are nodding in agreement.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Bobby Boucher | Jun 9, 2021 11:08:58 AM
Do some research.
This isn't the future. It is the past.
Advertisers have done this before. It is now banned in all major markets due to aroma sensitivites of individuals. Political correctness will prevent this from happening in any market larger than Charlotte. A single complaint will have this board taken down.
Posted by: Tracy Pepe | Jun 10, 2021 3:07:39 PM
As much as I agree with Bobby about doing research - he should do it as well. This is not the first scented billboard - one was completed in Yorkdale, Toronto last year. Scenting spaces continues especially in Canada - Europe & Asia - I have been scenting spaces for 17 years. I am scheduled at the Shoppers Insight in Action in the small windy city of Chicago - a scented event in July that is.
Single complaints are drowned out by the ROI and how scent can increase consumer awareness of a brand by 27 seconds - increased sales - brand retention & consumer satisfaction all increase when an area is scented . Many Canadian retailers have been scenting for years - Vaughn Mills shopping mall has been scented for a while - no complaints - just more shopping. Honestly, you do not go grocery shopping? Canadian grocery store chains are the leaders in sensory awareness using scent!
Industry has perfected the smell game - and most consumers can not tell the difference if that smell of a billboard was coming from someone's backyard, factory or man made advertising. My suggestion to you - start smelling!
Posted by: mc | Jun 14, 2021 1:17:02 PM
i can see vegans getting angry about this one !
Posted by: jumping stilts | Jun 15, 2021 1:22:09 AM
I think nurturing these traits will help you gain success in life in general, not just blogging.
http://www.bestjumpingstilts.com/