San Francisco advertising firm Goodby, Silverstein & Partners came up with a great idea for the California Milk Processor Board (CMPB), the folks behind the Got Milk? campaign. Simple "Got Milk?" posters would be placed in five busy bus shelters in San Francisco with hidden scent strips that smell like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. The idea was to induce cravings for a cookies and milk break among bus riders. It would have worked in most places, but we are talking about San Francisco.
Quicker than you can say "pass the milk," groups lined up to demand the scent strips be removed. They went after the San Francisco Metropolitan Transit Authority, the CMPB and the ad agency. Perhaps the most legitimate complaint came from people with allergies who said the scent strips might produce allergic reactions from some odor sensitive riders, although I have to question if the "normal" smell of a bus shelter is actually less offensive than the scent strips? Next came advocates for the obese, diabetics and, believe it or not, the homeless who said the Got Milk? campaign in the bus shelters was cruel to people who did not have food.
If groups like this can get the Got Milk? campaign pulled using these arguments, it makes you wonder what other legal products they might attack next. Some communities already have restrictions on where ads for beer, wines and spirits can appear. The idea that an ad should get banned because it might actual work to motivate someone to buy the product is amazing to me. I thought that's what good advertising was supposed to do.
2 comments:
Perhaps the most legitimate complaint came from people with allergies who said the scent strips might produce allergic reactions from some odor sensitive riders, although I have to question if the "normal" smell of a bus shelter is actually less offensive than the scent strips?
It's not a question of the smell itself being "offensive" - it's a question of the chemicals that produce the smells causing an allergic reaction.
My wife has a moderate case of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, and anything from perfume to cleaning solutions to hand soap can trigger an instant migraine. We have to request scent-strip-free versions of any magazines we subscribe to, and she can't even walk through the perfume section of a department store without holding her breath. It's not fun.
So while the complaints might have been a little extreme in this case, I certainly understand where they were coming from.
As for the bit about the smell offending the obese, diabetics and the homeless - that's just stupid. Will they now start asking restaurants and bakeries to install fans and ventilation to ensure that their food smells don't go out into the street where they might tempt an obese person or make a homeless person feel more hungry? Sheesh.
Greg:
I couldn't agree more that Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is a serious issue, particularly this time of year if you have to enter a department store and pass through the cosmetics section on your way to buy a gift.
One thing that I did not include in my blog entry is that the Got Milk? folks claim the scent strips used "natural" indgredients and not chemicals to produce the cookie odor. I'm not sure if that really matters if you suffer from a disorder that causes an allergic reaction to certain types of smells.
Perhaps they should do one of these for Starbucks so the do-gooders in San Francisco can wake up and smell the coffee!
Rick
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