NEW YORK – A trip through New York City’s crowded subway system usually offers a pungent mix of industrial and bodily aromas.
But inside a stretch of the Grand Central station this holiday season, the air smells of vanilla and fresh pine.
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The scent is part of a novel advertising campaign for Bath & Body Works, which is pumping the fragrance into the 42nd Street shuttle train platform through November.
Many commuters don't pause to take notice of the diffusers that have been attached to a steel girder over the platform, and along the walls of a connecting tunnel. Those who look up can see them releasing visible bursts of vapor. Bath & Body Works estimates that 20 to 30 pounds (9 to 14 kilograms) of fragrance will be dispersed by the end of the month, when the campaign ends.
“It smells better than the normal New York City tunnels that we normally smell here,” commuter Jerome Murray said. “So yes, I appreciate it.”
The area is one of the busiest parts inside the transit hub, with people moving quickly as they transfer to and from the Times Square shuttle every four to five minutes.
Commuter Kelly Rodriguez, 23, described the smell as “a pine scent, very Christmassy” — a note given by many riders. Kathleen Baptiste, 60, added that it reminds her of “fabric softeners.”
The scent is subtle enough that some riders said they missed it as they traveled through the space. If you didn’t see the poster explaining that it is a Bath & Body Works ad campaign, it could be easy to mistake for another rider’s perfume.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s subways and buses, says this is the first ad campaign of its kind inside the transit network, which is seeking to generate new revenue streams. Hoping to avoid any blowback, the agency tested a pilot of aroma-based ads last year in stations in Queens and Brooklyn to review the safety and gather feedback, according to Mary John, the agency’s director of commercial ventures.
John says the agency has not received any complaints so far.
Jamie Sohosky, Bath & Body Works’ chief marketing officer, said the retail chain chose “Fresh Balsam” for the campaign because it is one of the brand's most iconic holiday scents and a long-running seasonal favorite. Grand Central, she said, was a natural choice, since huge numbers of riders pass through while connecting to other trains.