What's That Smell?

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The fine folks at Glade have put their staff to work to answer the age-old question "What does Christmas smell like?" 

They've whittled it down to five scents, all available for purchase at your local retailer, of course:

Apple Cinnamon
Cinnamon Gingerbread
Glistening Snow®
French Vanilla
Cranberry Delight® & Everlasting Pine®

Their website goes into gorgeous detail about their holiday collection, including a feature that lets you "explore" each scent. Enjoy the blurry-lensed photos of happy, non-threateningly beautiful people engaged in various forms of G-rated winter frolicking, nuzzling, and wearing flannel.

In case you're a bit of a dim bulb in the inference department, they also include text to remind you that Cinnamon Gingerbread should make you think of "You and Mom in the kitchen", and Glistening Snow® is meant to conjure up images of "Stopping by woods on a snowy evening". (Say, isn't that Robert Frost I hear rolling in his grave?)


I can't quite decide if writing copy for the Glade website would be the most awesomely mellow job in the world or if being employed there would drive me to drink heavily. Good to see some English majors getting a steady paycheck, though.

I struggle with the notion of holiday air freshener on two levels: 

1.  I am not, in general, a fan of air freshener. Since there is a ton of shelf space devoted to this product year-round, I get that a lot of other folks are out there pluggin' in and spraying away on a daily basis. At our house, we keep a can of it in the bathroom for those days when someone in the family is, shall we say, having a rough ride, but that can lasts for a year or more. Do people really go through this stuff quickly enough to merit buying a special scent (or five) for the holiday season?

2.  Scent is a powerful emotional trigger, to be sure. (Don't believe me? Go open a can of Play-Doh and try not to sigh with delight at the memories of a simpler time.) But, if we crave these smells of pine boughs, apple cobbler, and gingerbread, why don't we just celebrate the season by participating in the traditions that make our homes smell so homey for real? You diminish the glory of the smell of cinnamon if you imbue your home with it too frequently and by artificial means. And, c'mon, baking cookies ain't all that difficult. They even make ready-to-bake ones; they're in the refrigerated section - just past the air freshener aisle.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay for another blog!

Confession: I am one of those air freshener people. Just yesterday, I was perusing the air freshener aisle in Target and making a mental note to pick up the more Christmas-y scents closer to the actual holiday. Right now, I'm on the Apple Cinnamon Glade Scented Oil. Since I don't bake, it makes me feel a tad more domesticated to have my living space continually smelling like pie.

I think another reason I "do" air fresheners because I'm terrified that my apartment will smell like "dog" and that I - having become gradually used to it - will never pick up on the scent. It wakes me up at night. Hence, the air fresheners.

The end.

November 29, 2008 at 10:12 AM
Anonymous said...

I also have a confession. I am a sucker for air fragrance. That might seem odd as I am olfactory impaired. That's the term my people have chosen. I live in constant fear of smelling bad. I worry that my home stinks and I wouldn't know!!!!! It also might have something to do with having a teen aged son and a smoker in the family.

McQ

December 2, 2008 at 6:52 AM
 

2009 ·what now? by TNB