Gas Pumps that Smell Like Coffee

The Convenience Store business is very competitive. Gas is low margin, so in store sales really help pay the rent. Now a clever entrepreneur wants to pump the smell of coffee into the forecourt (that's the industry term for the areas around the gas pump).

From a marketing standpoint, it's a great idea. Smell is a very powerful trigger of deep seeded emotional response. And coffee is an impulse buy that's high margin.

Business 2.0 also reports that Wal-mart will sell "smell-a-vision" kits with certain DVDs. Again, interesting.

But does no one else see the first asthmatic who chokes on these smells winning the lawsuit lottery?