Scratch and sniff technology generally refers to things that have been treated with a microfragrance coating. When scratched, the coating releases an odor that is normally related to an image being displayed under the coating. The technology has been used on a variety of surfaces from stickers to compact discs.
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Stickers became common in the late 1970s, and grew into big business for several companies throughout the early and mid-1980s. As the technology evolved to an "acid-free" design the sticker craze seemed to come to a close.
Samples of scratch and sniff stickers are used for detection of individual anosmia, although this practice declined after the end of the Cold War.
Utility companies have sometimes enclosed scratch and sniff cards in their bills to educate the public on recognizing the smell of a methane gas leak. However, this would sometimes lead to a rash of false alarms as the scent emanating from a discarded scratch and sniff is later mistaken for a real gas leak.[1]
Scratch and sniff is created through the process of micro-encapsulation. The desired smell is surrounded by micro-capsules that break easily when gently rubbed. The rub to release action breaks the micro-encapsulated bubbles and releases the aroma. Because of the micro-encapsulation, the aroma can be preserved for extremely long periods of time.
While there were hundreds of companies that put out Scratch and Sniff stickers, the most well known are the originators Creative Teaching Press (CTP) (who later re-named them Sniffy's in 1980/1981), Trend Enterprise's Stinky Stickers line (which followed directly after CTP), Hallmark, Sandylion, Spindex, Gordy, and Mello Smello.
More recently the BBC reinvented Scratch and Sniff cards with a version that accompanied a new television series 'Filthy Cities'. Viewers were invited to use the aroma cards at home to experience the nasty smells of Medieval London and Revolutionary Paris as they were taken on a journey back in time to the 'filthy cities' of yesteryear. The four aromas included Sewage, 18th Century Tannery, Marie Antoinettes Perfume and Pong de Paris. The fragrances and scratch and sniff cards were developed by The Aroma Company Europe in Oxfordshire using aroma print technology.
Apart from the stickers, scratch and sniff surfaces are to be found on some objects in popular culture: