NBC will use on-screen graphics during the episode to prompt viewers to scratch and sniff one of the six corresponding numbered boxes on TV Guide's scent card, which will then release aromas connected to the show's storyline.
The scents include "brand-new car" smell and an Oreo-cookie aroma. The scent card is sponsored by Kraft-owned brand, Oreo.
The idea for the scratch-and-sniff card, according to "My Name is Earl" creator, Greg Garcia, came from the John Waters film "Polyester", in which the gimmick was called "Odorama."
Printed by Concord Litho of New Hampshire, the insert features six different fragrances tied directly to the first-ever interactive "Laugh 'n Sniff" episode's script (which goes to air May 3), for a cross-promotional May sweeps campaign involving TV Guide, NBC, 20th Century Fox Television, and sponsor. Oreo.
Concord Litho, a high-volume web and sheetfed printer with annual sales of US$42m, printed millions of scented inserts for longtime customer, TV Guide, on a 10-unit heat-set web press using special clear, non toxic inks that contain embedded fragrance oils.
The scent in these inks, manufactured by New York-based Scentisphere, remains dormant until activated (typically by a reader rubbing the specified area on the paper).
"More than a thousand fragrances are available and pretty much anything that's printed can be scented," says Peter Cook, CEO of Concord Litho.
"Unlike 1980s-era 'Scratch-n-Sniff', scented varnish doesn't interfere with graphics and basically remains dormant until it is activated by the consumer, allowing it to pass more postal and publication regulations. And it can be reactivated over and over again, greatly increasing the pass-along readership value of advertisements."
Concord Litho started testing the new inks almost four years ago, before they were commercially available), and was the first official site for sheetfed and web printing with these inks.
The company worked with Scentisphere to create a signature Oreo fragrance oil for this project and Scentisphere's president and founder, Bob Bernstein, personally attended the "Scent OK" on press with Jerry Westcott, vice president of direct marketing services at Concord Litho, who managed this project.
Other recent high-profile projects involving scented inks at Concord Litho include a promotional game piece for Domino's Pizza for its brownie bites product launch, a chocolate-scented DVD insert for Warner Home Video for the "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" movie, and high fragrance sampling cards for perfumers.
"It used to be just the perfumers and cosmetics companies that were looking to leverage scent in their printed products, but most of the current interest we see is from top brand managers looking to get into the scent marketing space, or for high-impact product launches or sampling programmes featuring new flavours or scents," Cook says, adding that the 10-year shelf life of the inks makes them particularly attractive to game board makers and those in charge of consumer packaging.
"It’s proving to be a cost-effective way for our customers to make their advertisements and packaging instantly engaging, break through the clutter, and boost response rates and reader recall."
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