For Gap, Sounds Make Scents in Cyberspace

If you think the Internet stinks, turn to Gap Inc. for help.

As part of a Mother’s Day promotion, the San Francisco-based clothing retailer this week began offering cyber-shoppers a chance to catch a whiff of its GapScents fragrances on Digital City, a locally oriented online network available on America Online and soon to be launched on the World Wide Web.

The fact that a computer screen smells like, well, a computer screen was no obstacle.

“If it were possible to actually send scent through the computer, we would,” said Michael McCadden, Gap’s senior vice president of marketing. “Since it’s not, we decided instead to share with customers our interpretation of what GapScents would sound like.”

So just what do these perfumes sound like?

* “Dream” (actual scent: white freesia and orange flowers) sounds like bold chimes.

* “Heaven” (actual scent: white flowers and light musk) sounds like harp strings.

* “Day” (actual scent: a light combination of citrus) sounds like chirping birds and a babbling brook.

“The idea is that digital citizens will see this and say, ‘I wonder if it smells like it sounds,’ ” then go to a Gap store to find out, said Paul DeBenedictis, president and chief executive of Digital City.

The three- to five-second sound clips for each of the Gap’s six scents were scored specifically for this online promotion. Coming up with sounds for a cyber-ad was similar to choosing sounds for a television commercial, DeBenedictis said.

But it’s clearly not a long-term solution for bringing the full sensory experience to the online world.

“If we could just get that little perfume sprayer on a PC, I think we’d be OK,” he said. “But I think we’ve got a ways to go.”