Smell this

When I was in college in Orlando, Florida I had every opportunity in the world to patronize Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World... so I did. It was more than just a childhood memory for me, it was every other month a different park and every weekend a new concert at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney.

Even though I frequented these fantasy worlds and thought I knew them inside and out, they still pulled the wool over my eyes with one thing. Did you know that the smell of fresh baked cookies on Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom, or the scent of damp earth when you walk through Jurassic Park at Universal Islands of Adventure is all a marketing ploy??? The cookies weren't baking at all, it was scent marketing! Brilliant! Machines pump out over 2,000 different scents from Glazed Donut to Dinosaur Dung... to make you feel a certain way; deisel exhaust, fresh cut grass, pizza, bubble gum, the list goes on. So who knows if an aroma you fondly remember was real or if it was a scent machine persuading you to stay a little longer or buy a little more.

You too can use this while planning your events to either transport guests to a comfortable place, or to create a new memory. I used a ScentAir Scent Wave machine in Coconut Breeze last year for the Gibbes' Passport to Paradise party celebrating the opening of our Bermuda exhibition. I thought the smell of coconut oil wafting through the air would make guests feel as though they were at a beach party in Bermuda. The Scent Wave wasn't even expensive, about $100 for a one time use contraption.

SENSORY OVERLOAD!!!

photos by Charlestonpicturecompany.com, Michael Bonnett, jr., Lori, ScentAir