We’ve reached another dubious frontier in the ever-changing world of outdoor advertising. In the Netherlands, McDonald’s has rolled out billboards infused with “the distinct aroma of McDonald’s French Fries.”
The campaign–which goes by the somewhat ambiguous name “smells like McDonald’s”–features plain yellow or red billboards that emit the aroma of McDonald’s fries when you get within a few feet of them. They are strategically located within a few hundred feet of McDonald’s outlets, in the hopes that after you take a whiff you’ll be motivated to get an order of the real thing. Each of the billboards apparently contains a compartment where actual fries can be stored, as well as internal heating and ventilation systems that amplify the smell and direct it out to passersby.
I associate McDonald’s fries with lots of grease and salt, so I’m not exactly eager to inhale that odor. Nor would I be particularly desirous of hanging out somewhere that “smells like McDonald’s.” But on a more general level, I bemoan the fact that in addition to billboards assaulting our visual senses, now they’ll be intruding into our olfactory senses as well. And I’m not quire sure how the greasy, salty aroma of McDonald’s fries–or for that matter, Domino’s pizza, or Axe deodorant, or the current hot perfume would interact with the other smells that you often encounter in a big city. In my view, the fewer smells, the better.
Webner House 