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Newspapers counter web with smell ads

By Jeffrey Blyth

To combat the competition from websites, newspapers in the US are experimenting with ads aimed at tickling your nose and taste buds.

First to try out the new idea is the Los Angeles Times. This weekend readers will be treated to an ad that will give off an aroma of a freshly baked cake. It is to promote a new movie called Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. Ads of the movie will be printed with a soy-based ink that readers can scratch to get a whiff of a frosted cake

Next to try the idea will be Rolling Stone magazine which will feature a tear-off strip which when you lick it will taste like the a Mojito, the new, popular rum-based drink in America. It’s called ‘peel and taste”.

Several other magazines are expected to follow the trend including TV Guide and People magazine.

A spokeswoman for the company that is promoting the idea. Rita Conrad of the Flint Group, the Luxembourg ink company that is marketing ‘Rub ‘n ‘ Smell”, claims that customers are ‘lining up”. Their slogan is ‘Eat This Ad.’

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