Xbox now has its own fragrance, and no, it doesn't smell like a vat of hand-crushed Doritos drenched in lukewarm fizz-less Mountain Dew. Quite the opposite: apparently it has "top notes of citrus, middle notes of mint and sage, and woody bottom notes of patchouli and clearwood". Australians will be able to buy it at supermarkets and pharmacies next month.
One way for brands to kick the viral publicity engine into gear is to do something ostensibly offbrand and zany. Arby's banters with Sonic the Hedgehog on Twitter, Razer is making a toaster. This Xbox scent, by the measure of Zany Things Brands Do, gets a solid 7/10 on the zany scale in my opinion. Its a partnership with Lynx, famed antipodean scent wheelhouse, better known as Axe in the US.
"Whether it’s unlocking a Lambo in Forza or reaching Spartan Rank 152 in Halo 5, there’s nothing quite like the rush that comes from levelling up in your favourite game," reads the press release. "To celebrate its fans’ latent abilities, Xbox Australia has partnered with Lynx to transform the feeling of ‘levelling up’ into a fragrance, empowering fans to lift their game both on and off-screen."
Fingers crossed we'll hear more about the scent–perhaps even smell it–at Microsoft's E3 2019 press conference next week. And by fingers crossed I actually mean fingers not crossed. I mean I hope that doesn't happen.
