WHO KNOWS? MAYBE SOME DAY the CEOs of major tire companies will be sitting in their offices around the globe muttering to themselves, "Why didn't we think of that?"
But at the moment Kumho Tires has the smell-good auto tire market to itself. The one shown here is lavender-scented.
"It's kind of a crazy idea," conceded Rick Brennan, director of marketing for Kumho Tire U.S.A.
Despite what you might think, the aroma tire was not conceived late at night by a bunch of college boys sitting around their apartment having one more beer.
Nope, this was the brainstorm of a bunch of tire professionals trying to come up with ideas to create a buzz, a unique product that would "cause people to talk to other people"-about the less-than-captivating topic of car tires. Specifically, tires made by the Korea-based Kumho.
"You sometimes joke about things and someone said, 'Gee, what if we could make tires that have a unique smell?' In focus groups the men said, 'You guys are stupid,' " Brennan revealed, but the women kind of liked the idea. So the ECSTA DX aroma tire was launched.
Someone, probably a hungry someone, suggested that they go with the smell of barbecued chicken wings. But the tire people settled on floral.
If you've ever spent time in a tire store, with that nasty rubber smell burning the inside of your nose, you know why a tire that wafts lavender is appealing. You can detect the heat-resistant scented oils embedded in the tire both inside the car and outside, up to 25 feet away. "They make your garage smell nice as well," Brennan said.
If you can't find the tires locally, you can order them at Discount Tire or Sears for around $120 ($10 more than the unscented version).
Said Brennan: "We've gone where some of the other companies have feared to tread."
But at the moment Kumho Tires has the smell-good auto tire market to itself. The one shown here is lavender-scented.
"It's kind of a crazy idea," conceded Rick Brennan, director of marketing for Kumho Tire U.S.A.
Despite what you might think, the aroma tire was not conceived late at night by a bunch of college boys sitting around their apartment having one more beer.
Nope, this was the brainstorm of a bunch of tire professionals trying to come up with ideas to create a buzz, a unique product that would "cause people to talk to other people"-about the less-than-captivating topic of car tires. Specifically, tires made by the Korea-based Kumho.
"You sometimes joke about things and someone said, 'Gee, what if we could make tires that have a unique smell?' In focus groups the men said, 'You guys are stupid,' " Brennan revealed, but the women kind of liked the idea. So the ECSTA DX aroma tire was launched.
Someone, probably a hungry someone, suggested that they go with the smell of barbecued chicken wings. But the tire people settled on floral.
If you've ever spent time in a tire store, with that nasty rubber smell burning the inside of your nose, you know why a tire that wafts lavender is appealing. You can detect the heat-resistant scented oils embedded in the tire both inside the car and outside, up to 25 feet away. "They make your garage smell nice as well," Brennan said.
If you can't find the tires locally, you can order them at Discount Tire or Sears for around $120 ($10 more than the unscented version).
Said Brennan: "We've gone where some of the other companies have feared to tread."
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