McDonald's is taking smell-vertising to the streets with billboards that smell like the irresistible aroma of their world-famous french fries!
The Nose Knows McDonald's
McDonald's is turning out to be quite the nosy prankster lately. First, we heard word of a possible fry-scented perfume launch in Japan. Now, the Golden Arches are amusing consumers by wafting their delicious potato aroma through a street-sign! The fast food giants are taking it to the sidewalks with billboards in the Netherlands that pump out the mouth-watering smell of their iconic french fries.
The First Fry-Scented Billboards
According to McDonald's, this is the first time a billboard has been engineered to diffuse a distinctive food scent for advertising purposes. The seemingly plain red billboards are equipped with ventilation systems that diffuse the smell of piping hot McDonald's fries at unsuspecting pedestrians.
The Scent That Sells Over 9 Million Pounds of Fries Daily
There's a method to McDonald's madness behind this olfactory marketing technique. First, there is a cult behind their french fries with many claiming they are the greatest fast food fry ever so sending a nudge to their noses may direct them right to the drive-thru. Secondly, scent has been proven to spark powerful emotional memories and connections more vividly than images alone. And with over 9 million pounds of those addictive fries sold daily, this starchy aroma is an olfactory Pavlovian bell sure to drive folks toward the McD's deep-fryers.
This Ain't New
We have to call out that despite McDonald's claim that this is some new concept, it ain't. Hitting people with a whiff of deliciousness is an old-school trick started by restaurants venting their kitchens to the sidewalk and enticing customers by smell. Don't believe us? Try walking through NY's Little Italy without getting a stomach grumble triggered by an amazing smell coming from one of their fine eateries.
April is still not even halfway done so we'll keep an eye on the house of clown to see what other gags they may have in store to give our honkers a giggle this month.
