July 17, 2007

I Smell a Hit

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mojo-photo-smell.JPG So, how can kids these days be convinced to shell out big bucks for CDs when free mp3s of the new Fergie megajam are just a click away? Here’s an idea: add value through the magic of odor. CMJ reports that CDDVD Now! plans to introduce scent-infused scratch ‘n’ sniff CDs, which they’re calling “Rub ‘n’ Smell Discs.” Seriously. The Bay Area company alleges that scents “stimulate purchase activity,” which I suppose is true when you smell cookies and then buy actual cookies. The scents are applied to the CD surface as a varnish, customers release the odor by lightly rubbing the surface. Stock scents offered include standards like Strawberry and Watermelon, pleasant surprises like Ocean Mist and Clean Cotton, and bafflers like Asphalt and Stinky Cheese. Custom scents are also available… please tell me the new Collie Buddz CD will smell like Cheetos and Ho-Hos.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

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