The Observatories

Wednesday – Survival Instinct – French (very) stinky cheese (room 2)

This odour was very strong, and often overpowering, although the majority of people did not pick up on its presence. One of the volatile components of smelly cheese is Butyric Acid, often associated as a putrid smell (as found in vomit and body odour), therefore, unless the participant was aware of the cheese, they should naturally be repelled by this room.

Result
This was the most successful scent; there was a big drop in numbers in those that found room 2 positive, even though only 4 percent mention the word ‘smell’ in their reply cards. Over all of the days, the cheese smell negatively affected peoples’ general mood the greatest with a 20% drop in people marking ‘Happy’ on the feedback forms after the experience. It also created the greatest amount of anxiety!