What Does the End of the Pandemic Smell Like? These Brands Have Found Success Trying to Find Out

A few weeks ago, toward the end of March, a nation of pandemic-weary consumers got wind of a new offering from Miller Lite, a top-selling brand in the stable of Molson Coors Brewing Company. It wasn’t a seasonal pilsner or a rebate or even a logoed koozie. It was, of all things, a scented candle. One might ask: Did it smell like beer? Actually, yes—or pretty close. Bar Smells, as this trendy taper was called, came in three varieties. There was Dive Bar (a blend of tobacco, pine and yeast); Game Day Bar (salted peanuts, jalapenos and leather) and, finally, Beer Garden (a blend of green moss, warm pretzels, cracked wood and “sunburn”). “While the world is finally starting to open back up, it may be a moment before we’re shoulder-to-shoulder again,” Miller Lite’s associate marketing manager Carol Krienik told Adweek. In the meantime, “Miller Lite wanted to create a sensory experience that transports you to your favorite bar. These candles allow you to bring a little bit of the bar home with you.” Another daffy marketing idea? Maybe. But 24 hours after Bar Smells went on sale at MillerLite.com, customers have snapped up every last one of them. Miller donated proceeds from candle sales to the U.S. Bartenders’ Guild Foundation. As it turns out, Miller Lite didn’t just sell a limited-run product. Whether it was planning to or not, the brewer had also furnished the answer to question that’s especially relevant just now: What does the end of a pandemic smell like? At a time when consumers are chomping at the bit to return to life as it was lived in 2019, a number of enterprising brands are trying their hands at an answer and, in the process, giving Americans an advance feel for that return to normalcy in the form of fragrances. The scent of money If there’s any consensus on what the preceding 14 months of pandemic have been like, a good bet would be: It stinks. Not for everyone, of course. Amazon’s done quite nicely, as have streaming services. And so, it turns out, have fragrances—specifically ones for the home, where so many of us have been stuck for a while. According to data released by the NPD Group at the end of last year, “self-care while at home” products have notched double-digit growth throughout 2020, with scented candles alone recording gains of 17%. “Consumers are creating a spa-like environment at home and finding new outlets to de-stress and capture a sense of normalcy and balance,” NPD’s beauty industry advisor Larissa Jensen said at the time. But in recent months, customers have moved from a bunker mentality toward a palpable desire to get back into the world. The trouble is, of course, we’re not quite fully there yet. In response, a number of companies have issued scented products to bridge the gap between desire and reality, often with scents designed to remind people of the world they haven’t seen much of for a year or more. Gee, your pages smell terrific In November, for example, Powell’s, the much-loved independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, released Powell’s by Powell’s, a unisex fragrance redolent of a bookstore. “Like the crimson rhododendrons in Rebecca,” the company said, “the heady fragrance of old paper creates an atmosphere ripe with mood and possibility.” In March of last year, Powell’s, like many retailers, was forced to close its doors to the public because of Covid-19. Partnering with the Demeter Fragrance Library, the store’s owners developed the scent as a way of placating its loyal customers. Customers deprived of the chance to browse the aisles at Powell's Books consoled themselves with some spritzes of this bookish scent. “Store officials said they surveyed customers about what they missed while the store was temporarily closed by the pandemic,” local CBS station KOIN reported in October. “It’s not the books. It’s the smell.” While the three-unit bookseller has been gradually reopening, the $25 bottle of fragrance is still available on the site. Just as good as a plane ticket A fragrance from a book shop is an unlikely thing, but you’d expect a company like Yankee Candle to be ready with all kinds of scents. And in March, it was: a limited-edition special candle called Discovery. This is the third year in which the company has developed a scent of the year. For 2021, it’s a spicy mix (red ginger, starfruit, vanilla spice) designed to evoke the breezes of Morocco. According to Yankee Candle’s fragrance expert Taylor Perlis, 2021’s scent is especially meaningful, given the national case of cabin fever. “We wish you could have traveled to Morocco this year, but that's just not in the cards,” she said. But by torching up a Discovery candle, “you can bring Morocco to you.” Truth be told, Yankee Candle lucked out. Since it conducts its research into fragrance trends 18 months out, the company had settled on Discovery’s olfactory mix before anyone knew what Covid-19 was. But given a long period of travel restrictions and countless deferred vacation plans, Perlis said, an exotic whiff of the Moroccan medinas and marketplaces turned out to be just what many customers wanted. In lieu of visting Morocco, Yankee Candle customers sniffed the spices from its Discovery candle instead. “You can bring a little bit of paradise into your home when you burn our fragrance,” she said. “It just takes you there.” And if it didn’t, it got people close enough. Discovery candles sold out within weeks. Scents and sensibility Long before there was even news of a viable Covid-19 vaccine, at least one entrepreneur was tempting its customers to dream about the pandemic’s end. This was the colorful and ever-unpredictable Josh “The Fat Jewish” Ostrovsky, founder of Babe Wine. In September, Babe linked up with designer Ryan Porter to produce a limited-edition collection of football-themed candles. Timed to the start of the NFL season (Babe is an official NFL sponsor), the candles were just the thing for Americans who longed for the smells of the stadium, even if they couldn’t go to one. To console football fans unable to go to the game, Babe Wine sold them candles redolent of field and locker room. “The idea was launched at a time when the pandy was in full swing and people were locked in their houses and needed some light-hearted shit in their lives,” Ostrovsky told Adweek. “We just want to get people talking about us and remind them of less apocalyptic days, and this was a perfect way to do that.” Ostrovsky enticed fans with three signature scents: Hashtag Field Goals (smelled like grass), $18 Nachos (smelled like cheese) and the memorable Jockstrap (smelled like… never mind), the latter of which is especially near and dear to him. “Jockstrap is my fave,” he said, “because I want my home smelling like male musk mixed with fresh laundry. Really enhances the feng shui.” (Laugh all you like, but Jockstrap was the first scent to sell out.) Put out the candle and go Meanwhile, Molson Coors (which posted revenues of $1.9 billion for Q1) gave all the proceeds from sales of Bar Smells candles to the U.S. Bartenders’ Guild Foundation to help hospitality workers. And so Miller Lite’s dabbling in the fragrance business has turned out to be a rewarding one. “We wanted to create scents that would transport drinkers to Miller Time while balancing something that would smell appealing in your home,” Krienik said. “We think we did a really good job bringing those smells to life but know there are probably a few scents we didn’t cover. We’ll just have to wait to experience those at our favorite bar.” With bars having reopened in most states, the wait for many is pretty much over—but, given America's affinity for very specific scented products, eccentric branded candles likely aren't.