New advertising strategy - chocolate chip cookie scented bus shelters
SAN FRANCISCO — Five-year-old Gabby Supapo stuck her nose up in the air and sniffed. ‘‘Oreos,’’ she declared.
Not exactly what the California Milk Processor Board had in mind when it outfitted five San Francisco bus shelters with ads embedded with the smell of just-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies.
The scented bus shelter advertisements made their U.S. debut Monday, according Louis Zafonte, spokesman for New York-based Arcade Marketing, which designed the ads to encourage milk drinking.
‘‘Scent is a primary driver of memory,’’ Zafonte said. ‘‘When you smell baby powder or chocolate chip cookies, everyone feels good.’’
To overcome the frequent blasts of exhaust and the funky whiffs that often permeate a big-city bus shelter, scented oils were sandwiched between cardboard cards emblazoned with ‘‘Got Milk?’’ and affixed to shelter walls.
It costs about $30 per shelter, Zafonte said, and the smell should last one to two weeks depending on the location. The displays will last about a month.
Critics have complained the ads could be offensive to the poor and homeless who can’t afford to buy sweet treats.
But shoppers near the Union Square shelter simply thought the ads were cute. ‘‘It makes me want to go to Starbucks,’’ said Gabby’s mother, Ihrene Supapo, 25.
University employee fired for stealing $20,000 in petty cash
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Officials say a longtime employee at the University of Tennessee has admitted literally nickel and diming the school out of $20,000.
James Everett, 48, was suspended with pay on Nov. 20 on suspicion of stealing quarters, nickels, dimes and paper currency from library copying machines. Everett was in charge of collecting the money from the machines.
During questioning, Everett, a 19-year UT employee, ‘‘did make a statement and was subsequently fired,’’ UT spokeswoman Amy Blakely said Monday.
An audit of exact losses was under way, but it was estimated he stole about $20,000 over the past two years. Blakely said the report was turned over to the Knox County district attorney general’s office.
Everett told WATE-TV on Friday that has he getting an attorney and ‘‘trying to see what’s going on.’’
$500,000 up for grabs
SLIDELL, La. — The Louisiana State Police have almost $500,000 that the owner can claim. As long as they do it before the end of the month.
The St. Tammany Parish district attorney’s office and State Police recently published public notice of the pending forfeiture of $498,665 seized during an Oct. 14 traffic stop in the Slidell area. Police believe the cash is drug money.
The money was discovered after Trooper Bryan Madden pulled over the tractor-trailer for careless driving. The driver and passenger, whom police did not identify, were ‘‘nervous and evasive,’’ according to the notice.
The money was discovered in a hidden compartment inside the truck cab, and the driver disavowed any knowledge of it, according to Cook. ‘‘He had just picked it up, and he said he didn’t know anything about its origin,’’ he said.
The driver was cited with careless driving, but he and the passenger were not arrested, police said.
The money — large bills, wrapped in rubber bands and vacuum-sealed — will be forfeited to the state 30 days after publication of the public notice, which appeared Nov. 30.
SAN FRANCISCO — Five-year-old Gabby Supapo stuck her nose up in the air and sniffed. ‘‘Oreos,’’ she declared.
Not exactly what the California Milk Processor Board had in mind when it outfitted five San Francisco bus shelters with ads embedded with the smell of just-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies.
The scented bus shelter advertisements made their U.S. debut Monday, according Louis Zafonte, spokesman for New York-based Arcade Marketing, which designed the ads to encourage milk drinking.
‘‘Scent is a primary driver of memory,’’ Zafonte said. ‘‘When you smell baby powder or chocolate chip cookies, everyone feels good.’’
To overcome the frequent blasts of exhaust and the funky whiffs that often permeate a big-city bus shelter, scented oils were sandwiched between cardboard cards emblazoned with ‘‘Got Milk?’’ and affixed to shelter walls.
It costs about $30 per shelter, Zafonte said, and the smell should last one to two weeks depending on the location. The displays will last about a month.
Critics have complained the ads could be offensive to the poor and homeless who can’t afford to buy sweet treats.
But shoppers near the Union Square shelter simply thought the ads were cute. ‘‘It makes me want to go to Starbucks,’’ said Gabby’s mother, Ihrene Supapo, 25.
University employee fired for stealing $20,000 in petty cash
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Officials say a longtime employee at the University of Tennessee has admitted literally nickel and diming the school out of $20,000.
James Everett, 48, was suspended with pay on Nov. 20 on suspicion of stealing quarters, nickels, dimes and paper currency from library copying machines. Everett was in charge of collecting the money from the machines.
During questioning, Everett, a 19-year UT employee, ‘‘did make a statement and was subsequently fired,’’ UT spokeswoman Amy Blakely said Monday.
An audit of exact losses was under way, but it was estimated he stole about $20,000 over the past two years. Blakely said the report was turned over to the Knox County district attorney general’s office.
Everett told WATE-TV on Friday that has he getting an attorney and ‘‘trying to see what’s going on.’’
$500,000 up for grabs
SLIDELL, La. — The Louisiana State Police have almost $500,000 that the owner can claim. As long as they do it before the end of the month.
The St. Tammany Parish district attorney’s office and State Police recently published public notice of the pending forfeiture of $498,665 seized during an Oct. 14 traffic stop in the Slidell area. Police believe the cash is drug money.
The money was discovered after Trooper Bryan Madden pulled over the tractor-trailer for careless driving. The driver and passenger, whom police did not identify, were ‘‘nervous and evasive,’’ according to the notice.
The money was discovered in a hidden compartment inside the truck cab, and the driver disavowed any knowledge of it, according to Cook. ‘‘He had just picked it up, and he said he didn’t know anything about its origin,’’ he said.
The driver was cited with careless driving, but he and the passenger were not arrested, police said.
The money — large bills, wrapped in rubber bands and vacuum-sealed — will be forfeited to the state 30 days after publication of the public notice, which appeared Nov. 30.