I've noticed a recent surge in technological development in the air-freshening business. There's fresheners that sit and sublime fragrances into your atmosphere, ones you stick on the wall and push to make them squirt, ones that plug into sockets and vapourise oils, and now some which emit bursts of fragrance on a scheduled basis. This seems like a lot of complexity for what is, essentially, a not very complex operation - mixing a few fragrant chemicals into the domestic air supply over a period of time - but I guess it's good to see competition fostering a little innovation.
What worries me, though, is that I'm not entirely convinced the air freshening manufacturers have a firm grasp on the marketing benefits of the products they're selling. Recent adverts for the type of dispenser that sprays perfume when you press it began, "There's a new air freshener that's so easy to use...". Now, I'm not sure about anybody else, but in terms of air fresheners, I'm not sure 'ease-of-use' has traditionally been a barrier to purchase. Perhaps marketing focus groups really did yield comments from consumers saying "I would buy air fresheners, but whenever I see one, I just get confused and panic. Can't you make them easier to use?". Perhaps. Or perhaps the copywriter was having a bad day.
I'd write it off as a one-off incident, but last night, another ad for air freshener - this time the sort that sit on the side, using up batteries, dispensing a little scent every now and then - announced that the product was "portable, so you can use it anywhere". Oh dear. Are there really people out there who think, "These air fresheners are all so cumbersome. Why can't someone introduce one that's small and portable? And that doesn't require a PhD in astrophysics to operate it? Is that too much to ask?".
With consumers like that, perhaps there's some hope for Veritas at the next election after all...