It's not just the picture of beef on a new billboard that tries to get drivers' attention, it's the aroma coming from the sign.
The billboard on N.C. 150 in Mooresville emits the smell of black pepper and charcoal to promote a new line of beef available at the Bloom grocery chain, which is part of the Food Lion chain, based in Salisbury.
A giant fork rises from the ground to the billboard, where it pierces a piece of meat.
"In terms of being creative, with all of the advertising around, you want to be able to jump out and grab the consumer's attention," said Angie Hunter, the manager of marketing for Bloom.
The billboard, which Bloom lighted up on May 28, will emit scents from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. every day until June 18, Bloom spokeswoman Christy Phillips-Brown said.
The scent is emitted by a high-powered fan at the bottom of the billboard that blows air over cartridges loaded with fragrance oil, said Murray Dameron, the marketing director for Charlotte-based ScentAir, which provides fragrance-delivery systems for businesses, including hotel lobbies, casino gambling floors and retail stores.
The billboard scent is "basically a blend of black pepper and kind of a charcoal grilling smell," Dameron said. "It smells like grilled meat with a nice pepper rub on it."
Although a billboard is a new medium for ScentAir, the company has used the system at outdoor activities or in big indoor spaces, such as the 2008 World Series at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., where the domed stadium smelled like oranges.
In some cases of scented outdoor advertising, people with asthma or allergies have complained. In addition, it's hard to control the aroma from scented outdoor ads, said Harald Vogt, the founder of the Scent Marketing Institute, an independent consultancy based in New York.
Cheryl Reid, the manager of a mini-storage business on one side of the sign, couldn't smell anything from her door this week. As she got about 30 feet from the fan, she smelled a faint, charcoal scent that didn't smell strongly of steaks, she said, but also wasn't unpleasant.
"You might can smell it a little bit, but unless people are stopped out there or real close to the sign, I don't know that they're going to get the desired effect from it," she said.
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