On a warm Friday night in Chicago, scent scientist Dr. Alan Hirsch entered a packed bar to test the air and find out if the rumor is true: removing smoke from bars exposes other bad odors that were previously masked.
The place was packed; music was pumping; drinks were flowing, the dance floor was crammed to capacity, and nobody was smoking a cigarette – the perfect environment to conduct the test.
Scientific Test Description (Communications majors, skip to the next line):
Dr. Hirsch conducted a “nasal ranger” test to measure the Ambient Odor Concentration (AOC) levels inside the bar while also testing the Phenylethyl Alcohol dilution intensity equivalence and Dravnieks odor quality description.
Layman’s Terms:
We pointed a highly sensitive “radar gun” looking device around the bar and zapped the air to find out what kind of smelly funk the patrons were experiencing.
The Results
The Conclusion
1. The bar did, in fact, still smell when smoke was removed from the situation.
2. It was largely not the actual bar that smelled – it was the people in it! Because no bar wants to remove their patrons to keep the stench factor down, we recommend that all guys do their part in reducing body odor while they’re out all night.
We’ve called guys out as a major cause of these smoke-free bar smell problems. To read about our second test – focusing on guys in the bar – click here

