WHAT’S THAT SMELL?: You may not be...

WHAT’S THAT SMELL?: You may not be the next Nirvana, but you can smell like Teen Spirit. In case you didn’t know, Teen Spirit, the mysterious entity given immortality in Nirvana’s hit single “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” is a brand of deodorant being marketed to teen-age girls.

Mennen brought out the line last year, offering such scents as Baby Powder Soft, California Breeze and Ocean Surf. “Body image is very important to girls,” a Mennen press release for the product reads. “Research indicates that teens are preoccupied with how they look and use 20% more anti-perspirant/deodorant than adults.”

Understandably, the name struck Nirvana’s Cobain, and a hit was born.

No one at Mennen, its ad agency or public relations firm would comment, so it’s unclear whether the product’s sales have been affected by the exposure, or how the Mennen people feel about their clean-teen item being associated with the unkempt Seattle rockers.

But it does seem that the company is taking advantage of the heightened profile. Or is it just coincidence that since the song came out Mennen has added a scratch ‘n’ sniff feature to the packaging so you can test out the smell of Teen Spirit no sweat? Or how about the fact that Teen Spirit was advertised during last week’s “Saturday Night Live,” which just happened to feature Nirvana performing that very song?