Graciela Flores Alvarez form Mexico The fragrance industry is a big and profitable business, and how it has become so important in our society is not a mystery. In every culture, the perception that others have about us has always been very important, and our body odor, our house and car odors are a part of this perception. Knowing this, fragrance marketers create advertising on TV, in magazines, and on the radio that produces an image that people want to have. When the marketers work, for example, with a new perfume for men, they understand what the values in our society are: a man has to be handsome and strong, and he has to wear nice clothes in order to be successful. Not only does he need to look good, but he needs to smell good, too. That's what the marketers try to sell—not the perfume, but the image that a man who uses that perfume is going to be like the handsome, strong, well-dressed, successful model that appears in their advertising.
For example, an advertisement may show you how you will have a lot of friends in your home because of the fresh or sweet country smell of scented air fresheners. The
marketers try to make us think that we will be
happier if we use these products, and maybe it's
true. How many times do we visit a place with an
unpleasant odor? When places smell unpleasant, we
don't want to come back.
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