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The smell of freshly baked cookies arrives in a most unlikely location

Milk board debuts cookie-scented ads in bus shelters http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/16163858.htm Get a whiff of the latest trend in advertising http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=537438 Hot Stuff: Smells Like Faux Cookies http://www.sfist.com/archives/2006/11/30/hot_stuff_smells_like_faux_cookies.php Hot on The Cookie Trail http://www.sfist.com/archives/2006/06/26/hot_on_the_cookie_trail.php Smell-O-Vision http://www.retrofuture.com/smell-o-vision.html Watson and Crick. Laurel and Hardy. Sam and Dave. These are the type of duos that are seemingly inseparable, and a number of such pairings exist within the world of foodstuffs as well. When most people think about cookies, they probably think about reaching for a glass of milk. This popular pairing has been turned on its head most recently in the fair city of San Francisco, where an advertising company has recently paired cookies with an object that probably doesn’t come to mind: bus shelters. Though some would associate bus shelters with entirely different (and rather pungent) smells, the individuals behind this marketing campaign installed devices to emit the scent of freshly baked cookies in five bus shelters. Given the strong opinions that residents in that fair city tend to have about most everything, the reaction has been mixed thus far. A number of critical comments have come from animal-rights advocates who oppose the dairy industry, and even more from activists in the scent-sensitive community who are more than a bit annoyed by this most unwelcome intrusion. In the classic “man on the street” interview, a journalist from the San Francisco Chronicle asked local night watchman Joe Broulliette what he thought of this smell-enhanced bus shelters. His reply? A simple “I’d rather eat chocolate chip cookies than smell them.” This first link will lead to Rachel Gordon’s news article from this Tuesday’s San Francisco Chronicle, where she investigates this most unusual trend in smell-based product promotion and placement. Moving along, the second link will take users to another news article on this subject from Monday’s San Jose Mercury News. The third link will take users to a piece from Jim Stingl of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who explores the topic of whether or not the city of Milwaukee should venture into such territory and other such marketing schemes. The fourth link leads to a nice bit of commentary on the whole cookie-scent infused bus shelters debate from Mary Ladd, who writes for SFist, a weblog dedicated to all things by the Bay. Visitors who find themselves in San Francisco and craving actual cookies will appreciate the fifth link, as it contains some expert testimony on where to find the best cookies in the city. Finally, the last link provides a bit of historical information on that ever-so brief marriage of film and piped-in smells from the 1950s that was known quite appropriately as “Smell-O-Vision”.
Alternate Title
Bus riders sniff out shelters
Scout Publication
Creator
Date Issued
2006
Language
Date of Scout Publication
December 8th, 2006
Date Of Record Creation
December 8th, 2006 at 9:01am
Date Of Record Release
December 12th, 2006 at 12:17pm
Resource URL Clicks
2

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