Eau de baked potato

There’s nothing like the smell of a baked potato, especially with the weather so cold. And now you can have the experience of a freshly cooked jacket… at the bus stop. McCains, the frozen food manufacturer – best known for its oven chips – have launched a new campaign with ‘smellable’ adverts. 10 bus stops around the country will be fitted with the smell of baked potatoes as part of the £1.4 million push for its new Ready Made Jackets range.

The 3D ads will be fitted with fibre glass jackets potatoes which emit heat and a smell upon pressing a button. The ads will also dispense discount vouchers to encourage people to buy the new product. The campaign will be backed up with traditional advertising and POS materials.

Picture via Campaignlive.co.uk

The creative work was produced by agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay and the art director and copywriter was Jay Pond-Jones.

So what does this ad mean for PR? Well for a start  I hope it helps to put a halt to the current trend of placing large and often random objects in public places thus annoying commuters and showing little or no orignality from whatever creative team came up with the concept, who are now shown that there is another way.

I also hope that it opens up questions about how technology can be better used in creative campaigns. I mean, technology has developed to allow us to do some pretty amazing things, even on our phones, but PR agencies and other creative team are not keeping abreast or taking advantage of what is available to them; I’ve certainly been guilty of using a tried and tested method rather than taking a risk on something new. The possibilities, and award nominations, are endless and I look forward to seeing greater use of the digital age.

And to warming myself up on a baked potato at the bus stop.

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