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New ad campaign posters smell like hot baked potatoes

9:38am Tuesday 7th February 2012 in Business news

A woman waits for the bus next to one of the new aromatic posters A woman waits for the bus next to one of the new aromatic posters

SHIVERING bus users at stops in York will have their early-morning commutes warmed up by a revolutionary new advert.

The 3D posters advertise Ready Baked Jackets, a new frozen baked potato from Scarborough-based McCain Foods UK (Ltd), and could mean traditional advertising posters have had their chips, as they feature a host of hidden technology.

A spokeswoman for McCain said: “When consumers press a button, a hidden heating element gently warms the potato, and releases the mouth-watering aroma of a slow oven-baked jacket potato throughout the bus shelter.”

The new product, which cooks from frozen in five minutes, is apparently the Scarborough-based company’s biggest launch “since McCain Oven Chips revolutionised the chip market in 1979”.

As well as pumping out the scent of the new frozen snack, the bus shelters will also dispense money-off coupons for commuters to try the new ready meal for themselves.

There are only ten of the special posters in the UK, two of which are in York – one in Blossom Street, and another in Rougier Street.

Comments(14)

oldgoat says...
9:45am Tue 7 Feb 12

Not saying what I thought it looked like as I passed it..... did sort of smell, but I thought that was from the KFC over the road?

Please, FROZEN baked potatoes? Why? You can micro a fresh potato in 10 minutes, or an hour in the oven!

Nearly as daft as frozen roast spuds or frozen Yorkshire puds!

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Woody Mellor says...
9:48am Tue 7 Feb 12

Ah, but you just cant get the crispy skin from frozen like you can from an oven baked potato.

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notmyrealname says...
11:04am Tue 7 Feb 12

with all the publicity about healthy eating, local produce , saving money etc etc why on earth is this type of wasteful junk food still being promoted - just buy a spud from the greengrocers and put it in the oven
And the smell may drive the poor homeless people in that bus shelter to distraction

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Ignatius Lumpopo says...
11:06am Tue 7 Feb 12

It looks from the photo as if two buses have just passed the woman in the bus shelter without stopping. This probably ties in with last week's story of a young lad being turfed off a bus because his hot pizza smelt too much. If someone waits too long at one of these bus stops, won't they end up smelling of hot food and therefore be barred from getting on the bus they've waited for?

Come on bus companies! You can't have your - er - cake and eat it...

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ISeeEverything says...
11:10am Tue 7 Feb 12

Doesn't the bus shelter now need planning permission?

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The Analyst says...
12:04pm Tue 7 Feb 12

notmyrealname wrote:
with all the publicity about healthy eating, local produce , saving money etc etc why on earth is this type of wasteful junk food still being promoted - just buy a spud from the greengrocers and put it in the oven And the smell may drive the poor homeless people in that bus shelter to distraction
Frozen or Fresh, how is a potato 'Junk Food'?

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Chrido81 says...
12:20pm Tue 7 Feb 12

The article is misleading. How can a smell warm someone up? Looking at the photo, you'd just end up hungry AND cold.

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Ignatius Lumpopo says...
12:23pm Tue 7 Feb 12

Or, instead of putting a potato in the bus shelter, why don't they just put a chip on its windscreen?

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Chrido81 says...
12:47pm Tue 7 Feb 12

10 of the posters in the UK? Wow! This campaign is going to be a success.

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Omega Point says...
5:16pm Tue 7 Feb 12

oldgoat wrote:
Not saying what I thought it looked like as I passed it..... did sort of smell, but I thought that was from the KFC over the road? Please, FROZEN baked potatoes? Why? You can micro a fresh potato in 10 minutes, or an hour in the oven! Nearly as daft as frozen roast spuds or frozen Yorkshire puds!
Frozen Yorkies are a good idea for those who can't make them, agree with roast spuds

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Priapus says...
7:22pm Tue 7 Feb 12

The best that can be said for this is that the smell is a bit better than the traditional bus stop smells of tramp wee and chav sick. That's hardly a ringing endorsement.

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piaggio says...
10:05pm Tue 7 Feb 12

ant farmfoods been sellin these for years?? ,but under another name,

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Magicman! says...
1:24am Wed 8 Feb 12

Ignatius Lumpopo wrote:
Or, instead of putting a potato in the bus shelter, why don't they just put a chip on its windscreen?
heh... but gavin from autoglass would come along and put his resin in it.

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alfie says...
2:05pm Wed 8 Feb 12

Apparently senokot are doing the same sort of thing, to let people know what it smells like to have predictable relief when they wake.

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