Marketing Gimmicks

There Is a White Castle Candle and You Do NOT Want to Smell It

This has to be the most perverse thing since “BK Flame.” White Castle has produced a limited-edition scented candle that “infuses the home with the steam-grilled aroma of America’s first fast-food hamburger.” Just in time for Mother’s Day! They went on sale Monday and are already sold out (“for now,” teases White Castle’s website). But you can bet we got hold of one via the black market and put it to a smell test.

Even before we lit this thing, the wax emitted an acrid stench of caramelized onions (a colleague who didn’t know what she was smelling identified hints of “candied corn” — or perhaps high-fructose corn syrup?). When it’s lit, the flame produces a buttery aroma — as if you were baking a croissant and a sewer rat in the same oven. Even for hard-core cravers, the White Castle candle is a deeply nauseating experience, and we can’t in good conscience recommend curling up to one, not even in your White Castle Snuggie.

But if you’re determined, they’re going for $20 a pop on eBay.

There Is a White Castle Candle and You Do NOT Want to Smell It