• The New York Times, Wednesday, January 3, 2007 11 AM

Young customers are at the forefront of a boom in air fresheners, which have grown up since Glade's first sprays were marketed to suburban families in 1956. Since then, thousands of new products have made their debuts--plug-ins, fragrance fans, diffusers, flashing light shows--becoming pricier and fancier every year.

After sensing a growing market, Procter & Gamble introduced Febreze air products in 2004 and put its marketing power behind them. Sales across the industry are up 50%--or nearly $600 million--since 2003, according to Kline & Company.

"P&G came from nowhere," says William Schmitz, a senior analyst with Deutsche Bank. "And they expanded the category."

P&G sought young people by creating offbeat Febreze ads featuring young 20somethings making air fresheners seem cool. And one of the first Febreze air freshener products was designed to look like a CD player. Febreze Scentstories, released in 2004, features "stop" and "play" buttons and "discs" that radiate scents rather than music.

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