There's Really This Thing...

There is a company, for real, that creates fragrances for other companies. These fragrances reveal the "true identity" of the company…who they are…their "unique selves." This signature fragrance is released into the store, the workplace, and helps solidify the company's identity.

OK, it's my opinion that if I stopped there, it's creepy. But I'm not stopping there. It gets worse. I do remember the smell of the chemistry building where my dad worked. It was a "signature fragrance" indeed…created by the multitude of chemicals in storage, the chalk and dust that collects in corners of academia, student imagination and idealism, and the lingering impact of those who came before. I can still remember that smell enveloping us when we walked in the door. But it just existed, no one paid to have it created.

As NPR reported this story, mild interest turned to amazed horror when I hear that the Dallas Cowboys pay to create and release a fragrance in their stadium. What does the Dallas Cowboy stadium need to smell like? The company says "victory." (I have other opinions…but to keep my Texas friends, I will keep them to myself.)

How much money does it cost to spray the smell of victory into a stadium? And really? Does the American football fan need a signature fragrance to enjoy the game?

I just am astounded. I didn't even imagine such a thing existed. As a culture, we "can't afford" to care for desperate children crossing the border (regardless of the rightness or wrongness, they are the least of these), we "can't afford" to expand Medicare to those in greatest need, we "can't afford" to house homeless people, or expand the VA medical system to support all the new veterans we created in our recent wars.

But we can express our "true identity" with our stadium-sized signature fragrance.

I just don't think its an identity I want to claim.

Where is that magic wand when you need one?

(I post more sporadically when it is not a "season" of the church year or a mission trip or something. If you want to know when a new post is up, you can put your e-mail in the box in the right column and you will get the post in an e-mail. "Joining" the site simply makes it more likely to come up when people surf blogs…good for the blog, but it doesn't really benefit you. Many thanks for reading, BTW, and for your support. I'd write it anyway, but it's nice when it is helpful or entertaining to others.)