Top Ten Promotional Car Air Freshener Stories!

Promotional car air fresheners are a fantastic way to advertise a business, charity or service and this has led to some interesting uses of the concept over the years. Here is our top ten list of interesting, funny - and sometimes downright disastrous - ways  to use promotional car air fresheners:

10 - Perhaps the most iconic and instantly recognisable range of novelty car air fresheners is Magic Tree. Most of us have grown up seeing the smelly trees hanging from cars everywhere, so it is no surprise that when a certain chain of garden centres in the North of England released their promotional car air fresheners in the shape of a pine tree, there were a few problems. The design was certainly appropriate for the business, but the success of Magic Tree meant the product had to be withdrawn before the legal action could start!

9 - A driving instructor in Kent hoped to generate more business by giving students eye-catching promotional air fresheners to hang in their vehicles. Unfortunately the statement ‘We’ll help you pass’ was not checked for accuracy before going to print, and when the box of printed car air fresheners arrived he was not amused to see the ‘a’ in pass had been mistaken for an ‘i’!

8 - A top sweet manufacturer brought out a range of customised car air fresheners in the shape of their popular and iconic range of treats. Not only did they look delicious, but the company spent much time and money making them smell perfect too. Unfortunately, they had to be withdrawn from circulation after reports of small children trying to eat them!

7 - Back in the 80’s, when being gay was less accepted than in these more tolerant times, gay people would often place a discreet rainbow about their person. This led to a specially customised car air freshener being developed by PRIDE that subtly announced their sexuality to other road users. And you just thought they just really liked rainbows!

6 - An interesting design produced as part of a Spanish anti-drink-driving campaign featured a clear ‘no thank you I wouldn’t like one for the road’ message on the reverse and the head of a crash test dummy on the front. A branded car air freshener with a loud message to one and all.

5 - As part of the Obama election campaign in the USA, what was known as the ‘Obamarama’ range of promotional car air fresheners was produced. Now an iconic piece of Americana, the air freshener promised to ‘get rid of Republican odours for good’.

4 - In a particularly misguided waste of taxpayers’ money, a police road-safety unit in the South of France developed a range of promotional car air fresheners, which told readers to ‘back off – if you can read this, you’re too close’. Of course, it was only after 10,000 were printed that someone pointed out they would be hung in the front window!

3 - A Danish pork company decided to develop promotional car air fresheners for their business associates that not only looked like pieces of bacon, but smelt like them too! Needless to say, not many people kept them in their car for long, as they found the fresheners made them either feel very hungry or very queasy!

2 - Democrats in the US attempted to discredit the opposition – in this case George W Bush - with custom car air fresheners that simply featured a photograph of President Bush with the caption ‘W.T.F.?'. Apparently they were also citrus scented!

1 - The top spot has to go to a British bridal boutique that started giving away customised car air fresheners inspired by the romance of the proposal. A manicured lady’s hand with a sparkling diamond adorning her outstretched finger provided the shape for these innovative promotional car air fresheners. Unfortunately, the designer put the hanging loop at the tip of the outstretched finger, so when the air freshener was hung up it appeared the newly engaged woman was making a rather un-ladylike gesture to passing cars!