City Says Scented Shelter Ads Stink

It's a rare setback for advertising technology.  From the SF Chronicle:

Cookie-scented strips were ordered off San Francisco bus shelters Tuesday, and now city officials are considering a ban on advertisers' efforts to use the powerful sense of smell on the captive audience waiting for a bus.

The cookie aroma was part of the "Got Milk?" ad campaign by the California Milk Processor Board. [...]

The action came after activists complained that the aroma could trigger asthma attacks and allergic reactions in people who are scent sensitive, said Nathaniel Ford, executive director of the Municipal Transportation Agency.

Link: SAN FRANCISCO / Aromatic ads pulled from city bus shelters / Cookie smell didn't pass muster with the scent-sensitive.

I support the push to keep offensive smells, synthetic or otherwise, out of advertising, but I'm amused by the swiftness and seriousness of the response that this triggered.  If you ride the bus in San Francisco (and I do), then fake cookie smells are far from the worst odors you'll have to put up with.