Scent Strips Stink

The latest entry from John Brady's Last Legacy Editor Standing ...

Is it just me, or do scent strips stink? You know, those perfume or cologne ads that run in Esquire, Vanity Fair, the fashion mags, with a sniffer sample of the scent being sold.

First of all, they all smell alike.

Secondly, when you put four or five of them in the same magazine, the scents merge and the whole publication smells like the men's bathroom between innings at Fenway Park.

Thirdly, I have never known anyone who made a purchasing decision on the basis of these strips. I think they are a bogus tool for selling ads and stinking up a magazine.

Whenever I sit down to go through a magazine with strips, the first thing I do is tear them out and toss them in the trash. Then I seal the trash bag tightly so that the scents don't contaminate the room. Whatever you do, don't run these strips through your shredder—you will have that Fenway smell in the confetti and the blades of your shredder for at least three years. (I think the half-life is a decade.)

Finally, never ever ever rub one of these stinkos on a wrist or behind the ears before heading out on a date. You may think initially that you have saved some big money for the latest trendy scent, but, if the evening heats up, a rash is sure to follow.

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By John Brady -- John is an editorial columnist for FOLIO: magazine. He is former editor-in-chief at Boston Magazine, Writer's Digest, and founding editor of The Artist's Magazine. Currently he is visiting professional at Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University. You can reach him at his web site – http://www.johnbrady.info.

COMMENTS/DISCUSS: 3

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Poor column

Submitted by Matt Drudge on Thu, 12/20/2007 - 12:09.

I know it's a slow pre-holiday week, but even so this column is absurd. The writing is hyperbolic and sophomoric, and the insights are, um, non existant. Five years after scent strips began appearing in magazines, this is the best commentary you've got? Men's room at Fenway Park? What's your next insight going to be -- that there's a Starbucks on every corner? Welcome to America, gandpa.

Scent strips

Submitted by Jamie on Thu, 12/20/2007 - 12:22.

I disagree. I think they are a good way to stir interest. For example, I was reading Esquire a few months back and they suggested a certain cologne. There was a smell strip for it in the magazine, which I smelled. This helped me decide if I thought it was worth purchasing.

The majority of scent strips

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 12/20/2007 - 17:31.

The majority of scent strips are in women's fashion magazines, so you are not their target market. Studies have shown that women have a greater ability to detect and decipher between odors. So, honestly, I doubt any mag exec. cares what you (or any other man with an inferior sense of smell) thinks about their ads. This topic would be of interest if you were of any interest to them. But I'm just sayin'...

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