MCDONALD’S SMELLBOARDS

McDonald’s restaurants in the Netherlands have debuted a new advertising gimmick: billboards that smell like McDonald’s food. The billboards are small, about 5×8 feet, one is just a blank red rectangle and the other a blank yellow rectangle. They sit on the ground where people can walk past them. As they do, the unique smell of McDonald’s wafts out. How do they do it? There’s a large tray in the billboard frame that hold a bunch of McDonald’s French fries, and a ventilator blows out the aroma. The boards are strategically placed within 600 yards of a McDonald’s so customers can follow the scent trail to the source.
* Kind of low-tech, no? Who invented this? Thomas Edison?
* In the Netherlands, anything that doesn’t smell like fish attracts attention.
* Of course, to smell the fries, you’ll have to push your way through the crowds of seagulls.
* “Mmmm…French fries and cardboard. Let’s go get a McDonald’s hamburger and fries.”
* Cinnabun did it first, didn’t they? Sending the smell of cinnamon buns through the mall?
* Heinz Pickles should do this. Call them Dillboards.