At Great British Chefs we often wonder what would happen if people could smell the food on our site. Although there's no technology for this right now, you are able to smell food ads on bus stops.
McCain Foods spent three months working with a scent laboratory to create a baked-potato "perfume", and then worked with ad agencies to produce 10 London bus shelters with 2 feet high fibre glass potatoes. When people press a button on the potato a hidden heating element gently warms the potato and releases the "mouth-watering aroma of a slow oven-baked jacket potato" throughout the bus shelter.
Photo by JCDecaux Innovate
McCain brand specialist, Mark Hodge, said: “These outdoor specials are really going to stand out and drive sales by bringing the tasty oven-baked smell to warm the consumer. We're adding a whole new meaning to try before you buy."
However, Time Out London said "Unfortunately the aroma is reminiscent, not so much of a scrumptious freshly baked potato but more what you’d imagine the inside of a microwave that had once heated a McCains Ready Baked Jacket from frozen might smell like. Heartwarming homecoming treat, shameless advertising hook or prime vandalism opportunity, you decide."
The campaign is set to be rolled out in major cities across the UK, including London, York, Nottingham, Glasgow and Manchester.
What do you think of the campaign? How do you like to bake the perfect jacket potato? Oven baked or microwaved? We're discussing this on Great British Chefs Facebook Page.