Grocery Store Artifact: Squeeze 'n' Sniff

This little squeeze-gadget below was mounted on a display plug for cleaning products. The chamber in the pump is filled with some smell-alike granules of whatever cleaner is being promoted. When a customer pumps the belows they get a whiff of lemony-freshness or springy-fresh breeze, allegedly what your dishes or clothes will smell like after a good washing.

Seems like too much work to me. I have to earn the right to purchase your product through some sort of physical trial? You just lost a customer, baby. How many variations on the April Shower scent are there, anyways? As long as it doesn't smell like Golden Shower then I'll probably buy it. Especially if the logo is dark blue, I'm easy that way. So take note, Marketing Guys.

When I found the gadget on the floor after a display removal I carried it around for days. I thought about refilling it with bits of pastrami and remounting it in the soap section just to see what people thought of the new personal hygiene fragrance, but I found out it was more fun to keep on throwing fake punches with one hand while surreptitiously squeezing the bellows with the other. The whuffing noise made me feel like I was in a martial arts movie. Plus, it made me clean and sweet smelling.

Tags: Grocery Store Artifact Advertising