Febreze Air Freshener: Unmasking the Smell
My first apartment I ever lived in after moving away from my parents, were with my two best pals. We didn’t have much, but in the living room was a tan, cushioned three-seated couch and a love chair to match. As a shared bachelor/bachelorette’s pad, our couch witnessed and suffered a number of unholy things. Late night puke-fest parties, restless movie nights, and the aroma of teenage boys and dirty laundry were only a few things our couch endured with us. Unfortunately, a couch isn’t exactly something you can ball up and toss in the washer. This always reminds me of the 2016 TV commercial for Febreze Air Freshener. The commercial focuses on a product consumers can use on “the things you can’t wash” — your car, couch, and carpet (0.11–0.14). The product is manufactured by the founders, Procter & Gamble, whom first introduced Febreze in 1996 (The Chemistry Behind How Febreze Works). Procter & Gamble spent over $100 million on advertising within the last year (Procter & Gamble’s advertising spending on Febreze). They also invested in premium ads on over 250 different Media Properties (Procter & Gamble’s advertising spending on Febreze). It shows considering Febreze went from being a falling company to a $100 million franchise. The commercial is relatable which makes it unforgettable. It raises an uncommon question — what do you do with things you can’t wash? Lastly, it offers other products produced by Febreze at the end of the ad. These are all strong persuasive tactics to draw in the attention of viewers.
The Josh’s Room advertisement for Febreze conveys relatability and persuasion while offering extra information. The commercial begins with a mother entering her son’s stinky room, insisting he should clean the whole room before his guests arrive. A voice-over narrates that Febreeze Air Freshener eliminates and washes away odors. After the use of the product, the guests, two girls, enter his bedroom and compliment on how nice it smells in his bedroom. Subsequently, it is narrated to persuade the viewers to try the Pluggable Febreze, which contains “4 times the freshness in one refill” (Josh’s Room). It also informs viewers of Febreze Fabric Refresher. The ad nicely finishes with a line with incorporates the products advertised and the Febreze motto, “Two more way to breathe happy” (Josh’s Room). The situation relates with a variety of consumers. The product targets the idea that you can wash the un-washable. The commercial is memorable and effectively gains the viewers’ attention.
Advertisements, like most things you see on TV use relatability and emotional attachment to fuel the connection between consumer and product. Though there are many tools for human emotion, like music, relatability is one of the strongest. Author Jeremy D. Larson of the New York Times studied many artists whom mastered the art of relatability, or sometimes questioned it. One of whom he studied was Jonah Peretti, the co-founder and chief executive of Buzzfeed (Why Do We Obsess Over What’s Relatable). In 2007, Jonah Peretti wrote a manifesto about what could make something go viral. Larson writes, “Relatability is the chief psychological lubricant that glides you thoughtlessly down the curated endless scroll of your feed. It is the coin of the digital-media realm, a mealy concept that delights” (Why Do We Obsess Over What’s Relatable). Relatability is what points the directions of our thoughts. We are reminded of a specific time, a specific place, smell, taste, or feeling and it takes us back to that moment. It brings the emotions, taste, or smell back — sometimes ones that are so distant, you hardly remember what that memory was. On the contrary, Larson also informs of the short story Cat Person by Kristen Roupenian. In the dawn of the #MeToo movement which focused on anti-sex crimes. Her short story was “as real as a reality TV,” Larson writes Why Do We Obsess Over What’s Relatable). Almost every article praised Cat Person as “relatable”. It was a representational art form framed as relatable content — a perfect artifact. Days after publication, the New York declared it one of the most-red stories of that year. Shortly after, Roupenian got a seven-figure book deal. The target of relatability is clearly not a happy one in this scenario, which begs to sometimes question the tactic of relatability. However, in Josh’s Room, the target of relatability is really anyone with a smelly room. The commercial relates to how stinky teenage boys’ rooms can get and how mother’s typically react in said situations, while offering a solution. Truly, the ad offers plenty of options.
During the commercial, the narrator introduces two related products: Pluggable Febreze and Febreze Fabric Refresher. This is a tactical tool to use when advertising as it sets options for different uses and preferences. Pluggable Febreze is simply the freshener spray itself but in pluggable form, capable of automatically freshening the room using a timer. The Febreze Fabric Refresher is used mainly for large fabricated house hold items, like carpets, couches, and beds. The ad also conveys that using the Pluggable Febreze is just as useful as it promises four times the freshness. How accurate that is, in my opinion, is up to the consumer. However, this tactic of advertising is unknowingly directed at specific areas of the brain. Fanny Cazettes, from The Conversation, studied the brain during the decision making process. The offering of options in the commercial activate regions of the brain that are responsible for processing sensory information such as touch, or in this case, sight (How the Brain Makes Choices). You are then left with deciding, “do I want the air freshener or the pluggable freshener,” or “does my stinky couch need fabric refresher?” After purchasing said products, your brain will also decided your like or dislike, as this specific part of your brain which is making the choice, this specific part of your brain is also connected to your mental reward system (How the Brain Makes Choices). The reward circuitry will either release or not release the molecule dopamine (How the Brain Makes Choices). Being given options in advertisements are very important. Another important yet uncommon advertising technique is to question the consumer.
The question is simple within the commercial: How do you wash things that can’t be washed? It’s not a direct question, but definitely one that is risen within the ad, insisting again “for the things you can’t wash”. It’s simple. What do we do with fabric couches that has spilled drinks and sweat? What do we do with the aerial carpet infested with wet dog fur and mud? What do we do with the toddler’s bed stained with “pee-pee” and milk. Aside from the logical decision of simply purchasing new furniture, the commercial offers a faster yet still efficient way of freshening up furniture. This concept relates back to Cazettes studies in decision-making.
In conclusion, the commercial uses strong advertising techniques to draw the attention of many viewers by questioning the consumer, relating to the consumer, and offers more products to the consumer. This is definitely a commercial that I still remember to this day and it is a product my family and I use religiously. In our opinion it has held its promises, eliminating and washing away odors for good. Although all tactics and techniques are all questionable, this fun-loving, family-oriented advertisement did it’s duty and aimed for the proper viewers.
Works Cited:
Helmenstine, Anne, Ph.D. “The Chemistry Behind How Febreze Works”. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-febreze-works-facts-and-chemistry-606149. 13 September 2019. Accessed 20 April 2021.
Barzal, Liana. “Febreze Commercial — Josh’s Room”. Youtube. 27 April 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlT8VcWz3LY. Accessed: 12 April 2021.
Statista Research Department. “Procter & Gamble’s advertising spending on Febreze”. Statista. 14 January 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/314868/febreze-ad-spend-usa/. Accessed: 23 April 2021.
Larson, Jeremy D. “Why Do We Obsess Over What’s Relatable”. New York Times. 8 January 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/08/magazine/the-scourge-of-relatable-in-art-and-politics.html. Accessed: 22 April 2021.
Cazettes, Fanny. “How the Brain Makes Choices”. Neuroscience News. 11 January 2019. https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-choices-11504/. Accessed: 24 April 2021.