All of Digiday was excited by the arrival of the Oscar Mayer Wake Up and Smell the Bacon app, which is a dongle that emits the sweet aroma of bacon at a preset time. In theory.
Oscar Mayer created the app to give bacon lovers a “bacon awakening beyond your wildest dreams.” The YouTube video announcing the endeavor has been viewed over 2 million times in the past week.
Digiday was sent a unit and tested it out. Here’s what we found.
The app itself is packaged attractively, much in the same way Nike Fuelband is presented. Oscar Mayer goes with a stark black box.
The Oscar Mayer branding is tastefully put on the side of the box.
The instructions warn against trying to get a cheap high by inhaling bacon scent directly.
The dongle attaches easily to the headphone jack of your iPhone. The scent emitter is on the opposite end.
Two Digiday employees, Saya Weissman and Clair Lorell, served as testers after the app alarm was set for 9:58amET.
The app shows attractive bacon visuals when it activates, along with voice-over bacon wisdom, aka “baconisms.” (Turn the volume on for the full effect.)
What the app did not do, at least according to the olfactory senses of our testers, is emit the odor of bacon. Only one said she “maybe” smelled bacon. Two other Digiday employees, holding the app directly to their noses in violation of the directions for safe use, also did not smell bacon. It’s hard to say if Digiday simply got a bad unit, although another reporter who received Wake Up and Smell the Bacon — Business Insider’s Aaron Taube — also reported he did not smell bacon.
@bmorrissey Let me know if it works for you. I couldn’t really smell the bacon scent and it didn’t go off when I set it for this morning.
— Aaron Taube (@aptaube) March 12, 2014
We tried again. No bacon smell.
The conclusion: Building things is really hard. This is only version one; it’s too early to dismiss Wake Up and Smell the Bacon as a revolutionary product. At this point, however, the appears little more than sizzle.
-
Why a DTC jewelry company is placing its bets on organic growth via TikTok
As TikTok continues to grow in popularity, a jewelry startup is hoping to capitalize on its organic growth.
-
‘Harder to dispute’: Ebiquity CEO on why advertisers are slowing spending in the Google-Facebook duopoly
It’s deja vu all over again with this sort of rhetoric. This time, though, it's not just big brands that are apprehensive about putting more dollars into Google or Facebook. It's the smaller ones -- the ones that account for the bulk of cash spent on those ads.
-
Why a sports betting company will brand the new train line to MetLife Stadium
As part of this effort, a variety of print and digital assets have been developed, as well as the official rebranding of all of the NJ Transit system's signage and advertising to accommodate the new rail line. A clear understanding of the financial agreement was not provided.
-
SponsoredHow FAST channels are redefining primetime opportunities for advertisers
Sponsored by Vevo With the competition from content providers continuing to build, the traditional primetime TV slots are no longer guaranteeing the mass audiences they once did. Television viewership is evolving, and the primetime window of 8–11 p.m. is less broadly reflective of younger audiences’ content consumption habits. In 2022, attracting TV viewers is a […]
-
How Squarespace is marketing more directly to the creator economy
With new features and ads, Squarespace is the latest tech company to market more directly to creators
-
Member ExclusiveMarketing Briefing: With pressure mounting on Q4, some marketers are planning to roll out holiday sales early
Marketers are rolling out holiday marketing and sales early as economic uncertainty persists and pressure builds for the fourth quarter.
