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Basille Jimenez
Prof Jackie
English 115 M/W 11:00
14 October 2014
Febreze Nose Blind
When watching YouTube videos and television, every person experiences advertisements
popping up; it is inevitable. A common advertisement seen on those forms of media is the series
of Febreze Nose Blind commercials. The main goal of this series is to make viewers aware of the
smelly lingering odors in their homes and cars and how Febreze products will eliminate the
odors leaving a person to breathe happy. The ads use a variety of everyday situations where
strong odors are a problem then over exaggerates the conditions of the smell. Febreze
advertisements use relatable context, such as odor filled homes, so that the viewers will be more
likely to buy their products.
In order to appeal to a wide range audience, the Febreze Nose Blind commercials use
different scenarios that can relate to some aspect of a persons life. For example in The
Smelliest Catch commercial, an avid cook loves to prepare a type of dish, fish flamb, which
leaves his kitchen smelling foul, but he can no longer acknowledge the odor therefore leaving
him nose blind. In order to help him regain his sense of smell, his wife sets up a Febreze
intervention where workers transform their kitchen into a fish market so that he could understand
what the wife constantly smells. This certain ad targets all those who enjoy cooking and to those
who are sick of the lingering smell the dishes leave behind. Furthermore, the background, which

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is the kitchen, resonates with all types of cooks because every single person who has made a
meal can understand that every dish has a certain smell. The realness of the background appeals
to the everyday person. Each and every person visits a kitchen and acknowledges that it is a
place where smells come from and Febreze uses this fact to target not just avid chefs, but as well
as the ordinary human being who must eat to live. Also, the playful relationship between the
husband and wife in the commercial helps to appeal to couples who might share this same
problem. The wife merely wants her husband to understand the odors she smells; nevertheless,
she does in a humorous manner. This type of bantering appeals to couples because it is a real life
situation in which a person needs help realizing what is happening. In addition to avid cooks,
Febreze also targets mothers who acknowledge that their teenagers room has a sweaty aroma.
The Locker Room advertisement not only appeals to mothers, but to teenagers as well. This
commercial targets two different age groups simultaneously by using a relatable scenario, such
as the teens messy and odor filled room as an example. Additionally, the background plays a
key role in the appeal to both mothers and children because the teens room is the problem. The
room, which is a boys room, basically says that a teenage boys room is more likely to smell
than a girls room; therefore, the transformation of the room into a locker room also states that
athletic teenage boys are more susceptible to smelly rooms. The commercial uses the stereotype
of stinky athletic boys to appeal to mothers, who has that type of child, by telling the mothers
their sons room smells terrible and that they need to go and buy the Febreze product. Also, the
friendly relationship shown between the mother and son after addressing the product helps to
appeal to mothers and sons by saying that they will have a closer and friendlier relationship after
using the product. This type of wide range appeal helps grab consumers because all the scenarios
in the commercials are seen in everyday life.

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The wide range of targeted audience members that these Febreze commercials appeal to
allows the consumers to have a sense of affiliation by letting the people understand that they are
not the only ones who have a smelly household. They affiliate with each other through the stench
of their homes and the use of Febreze products to eliminate the odors.
The look of each advertisement must be thought out and planned so that it will
aesthetically appeal to the viewers as well as to intrigue them into paying attention to the
product. The visual layout and artwork the Febreze Nose Blind series use are all similar in terms
of the color scheme, the cinematography/ editing, the introduction and the ending. The color
scheme of all Febreze commercials are light blue and white, which are also the colors the
company uses for their logo and products. This design gives a form of consistency throughout all
the series of advertisements. Additionally, the combination of the light blue and white color
scheme, the artwork, and cinematography captivates the attention of the audience members. For
instance, in The Smelliest Catch and the Cat Couch Odors commercials, there is a freeze
frame where large capitalized letters spell, nose blind while alternating in light blue and white,
giving off a neon sign approach. Therefore, this type of design emphasizes the tag line whilst
catching the eyes of all those who watch the commercials. Also, while the colors are alternating a
dinging noise can be heard emphasizing the catch phrase even more. This type of eye catching
design assists in the remembrance of the commercials. In the American culture, shiny, flashy and
catchy proposals are used to attract consumers eye; thus, the use the blinking blue and white
colors with the bold nose blind lettering is perfect for the American culture. Furthermore in
todays society, everyone wants to see nice things and the editing of commercials is crucial so
that more people will want to stay tuned instead of switching to another channel. Every single
Febreze advertisement plays a role in American consumerism because it promotes the use of

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effective odor killing products while helping expand the gross income of a multinational
American company, P&G, through the layout and editing of the advertisements. Moreover, the
editing style that is used in every commercial so that the everyday scenario represented is over
exaggerated after a certain dinging sound gives the viewers an opportunity to see what the people
who complain actually smell. In fact, every single Febreze Nose Blind commercial uses this type
of editing style, creating a consistent series. Case in point, the Sneakers Stink ad illustrates a
man removing his stinky shoes in his mudroom and as he walks away the narrator says, But
your guests smell this, then sounds the ding. Once the commercial watchers hear the ding, the
mans shoe is enlarged so that it occupies the entire mudroom; implying, just as the title
suggests, his mudroom reeks of his odorous sneakers. Likewise, the use of the same basis of
narration in all of the commercials again forms a type of conformity and aids the visual aspect of
the advertisement by giving a sense of direction as to where the commercial is leading to. Thus,
each of the infomercials in the Febreze Nose Blind series states that if a person does not use a
Febreze product then his home will continue to have a certain smell that the he can no longer
distinguish, since he is nose blind. This type of appeal makes the viewer conscious of the way his
home smells to others. Lastly in all of the commercials, the introduction and conclusion are also
similar. It starts with the narrator claiming that the person believes his home smells fine when in
actuality it smells terrible and concluding with showing the advertising product usage and the
persons guest remarking about the fantastic new aroma. The close up on the product helps with
visualization while the remark contributes to the appeal of a persons senses.
A scientific and statistical claim gives a sense of authenticity to the product. This type of
claim convinces the consumers/ audience that this product is legitimate. On the Febreze website,
there is a Nose Blind tab where it states all of the scientific findings done by the company.

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The science portion of the Nose Blind tab states, Going noseblind is 100% real, followed by
an example of the process of going nose blind. The process, for example, states that a person
going nose blind goes through three steps; odor adaptation, a persons nose adapting to the smell,
habituation, a persons brain telling his nose that the smell is not stinky, and finally infestation,
the overwhelming stink the guests smell. Even though this scientific statement is mixed with
entertaining and fake claims, a person who has no prior knowledge of air fresheners can easily
believe what the website is saying because there are even symptoms and a treatment section. The
Febreze website appeals to the relatable odor problems of people.
The Febreze Nose Blind commercial series charms all the aspects of people. It targets
men, women, and teenagers; basically anyone and everyone who has a sense of smell. These
advertisements continually use the same color scheme so that people are able to distinguish their
companys colors from their rivals companies and their commercials. In addition, the
cinematography style being used with the same narrator voice adds to the remembrance of the
advertisement itself. Overall, the effectiveness of the Febreze Nose Blind advertisement series is
apparent in their consumer sales and the number of views the videos have.

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Works Cited
Febreze. Advertisement. Cat Couch Odors|#noseblind|Febreze Fabric Refresher. Cat Couch
Odors|#noseblind|Febreze Fabric Refresher, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Febreze. Advertisement. Locker Room|#noseblind|Febreze NOTICEables Air Freshener. Locker
Room|#noseblind|Febreze NOTICEables Air Freshener, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Febreze. Advertisement. The Smelliest Catch|#noseblind|Febreze Febreze Air Effects. The
Smelliest Catch|#noseblind|Febreze Air Effects, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Febreze. Advertisement. Sneakers Stink|#noseblind|Febreze Set & Refresh. Sneakers
Stink|#noseblind|Febreze Set & Refresh, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
"Noseblind 101." Gone Noseblind? Learn More & Get Treatment from Febreze. Procter &
Gamble, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.