Whether or not you agree that every bus stop in the world should smell like a baked potato, McCain's recent stunt certainly demonstrates where sense marketing is heading. Pete Hitchman, Head of Food and Drink at Willoughby PR doff's his hat to all involved.

A few months ago I blogged about the rise of scent marketing, which involves pumping artificial smells into shops to entice customers in. And without wanting to come across as a crazy ‘smelling’ man, I sniffed out another great scent story this week – McCain’s new bus shelter ads, which give off heat and release the aroma of freshly baked potatoes.

I said before it wouldn’t be long before the trend moved out of retail locations and McCain got there first. But that’s not the only clever part of this campaign. Putting aside the initial (frankly genius) idea to apply scent marketing to outdoor ads, this is another great example of how to turn an innovative advertising campaign into a great PR story. You only have to google “McCain bus stop” to see the reach already and I’m expecting this one to grow and grow. Hats off to all involved.