Ford Motor Company Commissions Gasoline-Inspired Fragrance To Promote Electric Vehicles

How do you convince people to give up their gasoline powered vehicles and switch to electric models?  Ford Motor Company is betting on the power of scent.  The car giant has recently commissioned a fragrance company to custom-create a fragrance that reminds those would-be electric vehicle drivers of the cars they gave up as they get ready to introduce an all-electric version of their Mustang.

The fragrance is called Mach-Eau and it was created by Olfictoin perfumer Pia Long for those who "hold a fondness for the evocative smells of traditional petrol cars".  News sources suggest that while gasoline is the main scent-element present, the fragrance goes farther than that - instead, the "ingredients....each add a specific element of the scent's story":

"Pia's starting point was to look into the chemicals that are emitted from car interiors, engines, and petrol.  This included benzaldehyde, which is an almond-like scent given off by car interiors, and para-cresol which is key in creating the rubbery scent of tyres (sic).  These were blended with ingredients like blue ginger, lavender, geranium, and sandalwood that added metallic, smoky, and further rubbery accents, as well as an overdose of Timut pepper, utilising (sic) the petrol-like topnote.  An 'animal' element was also included, to create an impression of horses and underline the Mustang heritage."

The fragrance comes in a form-meets-function bottle that's shaped like a gasoline pump - complete with a nozzle and hose on the side.  The liquid inside is even reminiscent of gas with it's amber color. (Yes, I know that gasoline is factually clear in color, but something about the brownish color 'suggests' gasoline)

And apparently Ford has done it's research.  One news source quotes the statistic that 70% of people surveyed suggested that it was "the smell of petrol....[that] they'd miss most when swapping to an electric vehicle".  Mach-Eau aims to bridge those two worlds in a creative - and smelly - way.

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While the scent isn't (and won't be) available for general public purchase, Ford Motor Company is sending them out to key targets in the marketing world; car dealers, reviewers, industry executives, and journalists have been the primary target for receiving the new fragrance to sample.