The Four Ss

Through the miracle of Twitter and Tweets, my attention was drawn to story from an online site about an Indian newspaper that has ads that smell. Smellable ads. They emit an odor.

What I never knew was that the Times of India has the largest circulation of any English newspaper in the world. We know there are A LOT of people in India, and they were once ruled by the English speaking British, so I guess some of this stands to reason. I never gave it any thought, but I'm sure Rupert Murdoch has.

Anyway, it seems Johnson and Johnson has placed an ad in the paper that can be smelled. In his case it's their baby powder. The ad is a full-page advertisement on a page that is liberally scented with the company’s famous baby powder.

I never heard of advertising like this is a newspaper. But apparently it's a new platform. Scott Smith, the founder of a futures research lab, wrote in the online magazine Quartz earlier this month that "scent is being mined as a new focal point of interaction for companies looking to break through a cluttered communication environment,”

I agree it's cluttered. Just try walking through my kitchen after 10 PM when the news is on and my wife is watching and texting. Attention will not be paid.

I remember perfume companies doing this scented thing in magazines, but I think it caused some trouble when people with certain allergies lifted the flap and fainted while operating heavy equipment, or something like that. I'm certain some litigation ensued.

I was on a plane fairly recently and I was asked what choice of a miniature portion of children's zoo kibbles I would like. I opted for the almonds over the purple chips. This lead the flight attendant to veto my choice since there was a person with a "peanut allergy" three rows in front of me. I was confused. I was being offered almonds, but couldn't have them because someone with a "peanut allergy" was in close proximity to my seat.

Flummoxed, I didn't protest, but quietly went for the offering of purple potato chips. I don't know what the peanut allergy radius was, but I hoped it didn't reach the cockpit. I didn't want the people in charge of guiding the plane to be denied their choice.

So, with this awareness of how careful you have to be with distributing scents in public places, I'm quite surprised Johnson & Johnson is willing to take a chance with a full-page scented ad in a publicly distributed newspaper-the largest circulating English newspaper anywhere.

Surely the conspiracy theorists will see it as plot to lower the population in India. Airborne chemical warfare through advertising. This would not only kill off the readers, but would deliver the final blow to newspapers. Just think.

Thankfully, that's not going to happen in this country. Advertisers have learned that Americans follow the rules of the four Ss:

Sniff
Scratch
Sneeze
Sue

It's a great world. You just have to be careful.

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