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'Honey Boo Boo' returns with Season 2 scratch 'n' sniff stunt

By Scott Collins

To those who think "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" stinks, now it really does.

TLC will roll out the Season 2 premiere of the reality show July 17 with a fragrant flourish, distributing 10 million scented "Watch 'n Sniff" cards to fans across the country so they can smell along with the pint-sized beauty-pageant vet and her earthy family from rural Georgia.

"With a numbered scent card that correlates to scenes in the double-stacked premiere episodes, viewers will we be able to watch the show, scratch their cards and redneckognize [sic] the aromas associated with the Boo Boo gang as they welcome the sights, sounds and smells of summer," TLC wrote in its pun-filled news release.

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The gimmick reeks of gung-ho marketing. The cards will be distributed in People and Us Weekly magazines, with more passed out by Time Warner Cable and "street teams." Ten million of the cards may be pushing it, given that "Honey Boo Boo's" weekly audience is around one-fifth of that. But a network's gotta dream, right?

This all smells like something, but what? Let us know in the comments.

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Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT

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