How Does Your Church Smell?

Inspired by the recent Newsweek piece on the Whiff-Guys’ suggestion that Endorphin Branding™ could help swing the election in this tight presidential race, Church Marketing Sucks, a site designed “to frustrate, educate, and motivate the church,” has opened a poll: Does branding your church with a specific scent take branding a step too far?

“Every now and then, a completely random smell will draw me in to some inexplicable happiness from my past,” writes Associate Editor Joshua Cody. “So here’s the question to ask yourself, ‘Does my church have a smell? Or does my church stink so bad that its smell wouldn’t trigger happy memories?’” While the poll is still underway, some interesting responses have already appeared. The complaint of one poster that his church currently smells like “old urine” prompted another to declare that his smells like “new urine.” “Scott” is not faring much better. The churches he has attended and worked at have “the rotten, wet, gray, business park carpet smell with a twinge of mildew” which he attributes to poorly manned carpet cleaning machines. Steve is praying for the olfactory salvation of them all, with “May the lessons in Smelly Church help your church become more smelly and less stinky,” while “Steve” asks simply, “Incense anyone?”

Poster “Kyle” demonstrates a deep understanding of the Endorphin Branding™ concept and its tremendous potential with this observation: “Smell is powerful. I will tell you Pilot (the truckstop gas stations) seem much more homey, oasis-like, cleaner AND more restful.. all because of the Subway franchises… Their gas stations smell like warm bread. It’s so great to wander into one at like 2 am after being on the road for a while. That scent creates a feeling of peace and safety- that’s one application I think is awesome. I’m not sure if churches should start baking their own communion bread or what but it could be awesome.. Mmm honey oat communion bread…..”

But it’s this insightful post over at Is It Working?, a learning site for students of ITT Tech, that seems to best hit the mark: “At first glance I thought this idea was kind of silly. I could see some churches spraying Fresh Baked Cookie Scent around to entice warm happy feelings. However, God—on more than one occasion—mentions the pleasing aroma of sacrifices. It seems to me that the idea that smell as a viable sensory input for worship is not one we should easily dismiss. There are many traditions in Church history that utilize scent in the worship service, and I’d imagine that the mere whiff of those incenses could put those that grew up with them into a more spiritually aware state.”