McDonald's Erects Billboards That Smell Like French Fries

Would you like to smell like McDonald's French fries? The company clearly thinks so and is marketing its smell broadly, including, most recently, branded perfume. It's also counting on the smell of its food to be so recognizable that people will identify it without any other data aside from the company's particular shade of red.

Ads of the World reports that these billboards in the Netherlands are set about 200 meters (that's about 112.5 DeForest Kelleys stacked end to end) from McDonald's restaurants. The company hopes that the smell will trigger cravings for the actual food products.

"It's the first billboard where the smell becomes the ad." I wonder what other products, brands, or companies could market themselves this way successfully. Perhaps comic book and gaming stores, as they usually have a noticeable aroma.

-via Marginal Revolution