Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Smellovision!

 

Long a standard part of sci-fi dystopias it looks as if advertising by smell might really be coming:

 

What was billed as a pleasing alternative to exhaust fumes at San Francisco bus stops ended after officials Tuesday ordered the removal of advertisements that gave off the scent of baked cookies.

The fragrant billboards, posted at five bus shelters on Monday in an effort by dairy producers to make passengers thirsty for milk, had to come down because the shelters' maintenance contractor had not informed San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency officials, said an agency spokeswoman.

The thing is, and this is something that I'm sure most Americans wouldn't get, is that the association of cookies and milk wouldn't work elsewhere in the world. They're just not associated in quite the same way.

No comments: