When a friend of mine invited me to the Museum of Feelings in NYC this weekend, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. A free art exhibit focusing on moods and feelings? I’m in!

After standing in line for 3 hours, I was hoping this exhibit would be worth the wait.

The Museum of Feelings was set up in a tent outside of Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan’s Battery Park City. The Museum consisted of five exhibit rooms, with movable art and infused scents. The scents of the rooms would connect to different emotions: Optimistic, Joyful, Invigorated, Exhilarated, and Calm. My absolute favorite was Joyful. Although the scent of the room wasn’t my favorite, I loved the long green LED tentacles that hung down from the ceiling and surrounded you, and made for absolutely stunning photos. As I made my way through the museum, I couldn’t help but enjoy every scent and every feeling each room expressed.

It wasn’t until I reached the final room that I realized that the Museum of Feelings was a creative and brilliant market research experience sponsored by none other than Glade®. The final room included capturing the museumgoer’s emails and selling exclusive scented candles packaged in beautiful white boxes. My friend had simply Googled free museums in NYC and was easily drawn to it, not realizing she was being asked to experience Glade’s proposed new scents in the most noninvasive way. Glade tapped into the large art scene in NYC and was able to obtain a ton of free market research as well as create an intense social buzz.