McDonald’s Debuts “Scented Billboards”

Ba da da da daaaa, I’m lovin’ (the smell of) it! McDonald’s is testing out a new kind of advertising.

A few things come to mind when you think of McDonald’s including the golden arches, Ronald McDonald, and of course their french fries. They are now using the familiar scent of their delicious side as a way to encourage passers-by to stop in.

McDonald’s Netherlands has placed a series of yellow and red billboards around two cities to see if their scent alone will attract customers to the nearest location.

The billboards are a solid color, either red or yellow, with no logo or other text. As someone walks by, they are greeted with the distinct aroma of french fries. The McDonald’s Netherlands said in their press release that, “it’s the first billboard where the smell becomes the ad.”

How does it work? Fresh french fries are set into a compartment that slides inside the billboard. The billboard then uses ventilators to pump out that fresh salty goodness. Each advertisement is placed conveniently within 200 meters of a McDonald’s juuuuuuustttt in case a customer gives into their sudden craving.

Since there are no plans as of yet to bring these scented billboards to the United States, we will have to settle with the lingering McDonald’s scent in our cars from the last visit.