Fragrant Liquor Ads Raise Stink Down Under

Alcohol ads in bus shelters that give passengers a whiff of a lemon-scented drink are raising a stink in Australia.

Bacardi-Martini Pacific has scent dispensers in 90 bus shelters in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane ready to advertise Bacardi Limon, a lemony, 35-percent alcohol drink.

People entering the shelters trigger motion detectors, setting off 20-second bursts of fragrance - all lemon, no liquor - every three minutes.

Victoria state authorities are moving to ban the Melbourne campaign.

And Warwick Murphy, a spokesman for the substance abuse agency Drug-Arm Victoria, called the ads irresponsible and risky for recovering alcoholics: “For some of them, they only need one whiff of it.”

Bacardi described the campaign as innovative and said the response is “out of proportion.” However, the company has delayed the Melbourne ads.