NEW YORK (AP) — A trip through New York City’s crowded subway system usually offers a pungent mix of industrial and bodily aromas.
But inside a stretch of the Grand Central station this holiday season, the air smells of vanilla and fresh pine.
The scent is part of a novel advertising campaign for Bath & Body Works, which is pumping the fragrance into the 42nd Street shuttle train platform through November.
Many commuters don't pause to take notice of the diffusers that have been attached to a steel girder over the platform, and along the walls of a connecting tunnel. Those who look up can see them releasing visible bursts of vapor. Bath & Body Works estimates that 20 to 30 pounds (9 to 14 kilograms) of fragrance will be dispersed by the end of the month, when the campaign ends.
“It smells better than the normal New York City tunnels that we normally smell here,” commuter Jerome Murray said. “So yes, I appreciate it.”
The area is one of the busiest parts inside the transit hub, with people moving quickly as they transfer to and from the Times Square shuttle every four to five minutes.
Commuter Kelly Rodriguez, 23, described the smell as “a pine scent, very Christmassy” — a note given by many riders. Kathleen Baptiste, 60, added that it reminds her of “fabric softeners.”
The scent is subtle enough that some riders said they missed it as they traveled through the space. If you didn’t see the poster explaining that it is a Bath & Body Works ad campaign, it could be easy to mistake for another rider’s perfume.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s subways and buses, says this is the first ad campaign of its kind inside the transit network, which is seeking to generate new revenue streams. Hoping to avoid any blowback, the agency tested a pilot of aroma-based ads last year in stations in Queens and Brooklyn to review the safety and gather feedback, according to Mary John, the agency’s director of commercial ventures.
John says the agency has not received any complaints so far.
Jamie Sohosky, Bath & Body Works’ chief marketing officer, said the retail chain chose “Fresh Balsam” for the campaign because it is one of the brand's most iconic holiday scents and a long-running seasonal favorite. Grand Central, she said, was a natural choice, since huge numbers of riders pass through while connecting to other trains.
People walk past the posters promoting the campaign by Bath & Body Works at Grand Central Terminal, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A poster reading "Notice a new scent?" Is displayed at Grand Central Terminal, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A person walks past posters promoting the campaign by Bath & Body Works at Grand Central station, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive on Wednesday warned that it would take action against any “unjustified measures” after the U.S. State Department barred five Europeans it accuses of pressuring U.S. technology firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.
The Europeans were characterized by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “radical” activists and “weaponized” nongovernmental organizations. They include the former EU commissioner responsible for supervising social media rules, Thierry Breton.
Breton, a businessman and former French finance minister, clashed last year on social media with tech billionaire Elon Musk over broadcasting an online interview with Donald Trump in the months leading up to the U.S. election.
The European Commission, the EU’s powerful executive branch and which supervises tech regulation in Europe, said that it “strongly condemns the U.S. decision to impose travel restrictions” and that it has requested clarification about the move. French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned it.
“If needed, we will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures,” the commission said in a statement, without elaborating.
Rubio wrote in an X post on Tuesday that “for far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose.”
“The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship,” he posted.
The European Commission countered that “the EU is an open, rules-based single market, with the sovereign right to regulate economic activity in line with our democratic values and international commitments.”
“Our digital rules ensure a safe, fair, and level playing field for all companies, applied fairly and without discrimination,” it said.
Macron said that the visa restrictions “amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty,” he posted on X.
Macron said that the EU’s digital rules were adopted by “a democratic and sovereign process” involving all member countries and the European Parliament. He said that the rules “ensure fair competition among platforms, without targeting any third country.”
He underlined that “the rules governing the European Union’s digital space are not meant to be determined outside Europe.”
Breton and the group of Europeans fell afoul of a new visa policy announced in May to restrict the entry of foreigners deemed responsible for censorship of protected speech in the United States.
The four others are: Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate; Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of HateAid, a German organization; and Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index.
Rubio said the five had advanced foreign government censorship campaigns against Americans and U.S. companies, which he said created “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the United States.
The action to bar them from the U.S. is part of a Trump administration campaign against foreign influence over online speech, using immigration law rather than platform regulations or penalties.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Sarah Rogers, the U.S. under secretary of state for public diplomacy, called Breton the “mastermind” behind the EU’s Digital Services Act, which imposes a set of strict requirements designed to keep internet users safe online. This includes flagging harmful or illegal content like hate speech.
Breton responded on X by noting that all 27 EU member countries voted for the Digital Services Act in 2022. “To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is,’” he wrote.
Angela Charlton contributed to this report from Paris.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
