Australia has woken up to the smell of popcorn today, with News Corp Australia using the power of its own print platform to launch its latest retail campaign.

Every one of News Corp’s six capital city mastheads (involving more than 800,000 newspapers) has been scented popcorn in a sensory marketing initiative to draw attention to The Great Night In Family Movie Collection, launching this weekend.

It is anticipated the stunt will reach around 3.5 million readers across Australia.

Specialised scenting technology has been used to infuse specific pages of each of the participating newspapers, including The Daily Telegraph, The Courier-Mail, The Advertiser, the Herald Sun, The Mercury and NT News with the smell of buttered popcorn.

News Corp Australia’s chief marketing officer, Tony Phillips, said the stunt was an Australian first.

“The bold move demonstrates how newspapers could offer innovative and effective advertising solutions for marketers,” he said.

“It’s example of how newspapers stand out as a great sensory advertising medium, helping consumers cut through the clutter and deliver smart, relevant messages in a highly entertaining way.

“We wanted to use the scent of popcorn to evoke a sense of nostalgia and fun with parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles around the country.

“As the aroma of popcorn is synonymous with movie viewing, it is a great way for people to make an emotional connection with our campaign and our products.

“The scent of popcorn is instantly recognisable and inherently memorable, as are the 15 movie classics we have chosen to offer with our newspapers.”

The mammoth simultaneous scenting task took nearly 30 hours and involved eight presses at six printing sites using 147.6 tonnes of paper, 3137 kg of ink, and 200 kg of popcorn scent.

Once printed, the papers were packed onto 300 trucks and travelled a combined distance of 200,000 km to be distributed at over 30,000 retail outlets across Australia.

The Great Night In Family Movie Collection is being promoted with point-of-sale marketing materials across participating newsagents, IGA, Coles and Woolworths stores.

The marketing campaign includes a state-based TVC, as well as editorial pointers and promotions in the participating mastheads.

News Corp is also filming the newspapers being printed, scented, distributed and sold, to highlight the initiative across its digital and social channels.

News Corp partnered with DreamWorks to offer the top-rating classics with The Great Night In Family Movie Collection, available as DVDs for $2.60 each with the purchase of any metro or selected regional newspaper over 15 consecutive days.

The first DVD in the collection, Madagascar, is free along with a collector’s album with the purchase of a newspaper.

The remaining 14 movies include Monsters v Aliens, Puss in Boots, Ice Age, Mr Poppers Penguins, Mr Peabody and Sherman, Home Alone, Rio, Shrek, Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Trader, Fantastic Mr Fox, Night at the Museum, Turbo, Horton Hears a Who, and Rise of the Guardians.

The Great Night In Family Movie Collection starts on Saturday 14 October in Victoria, South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania, and on Sunday 15 October in NSW and Queensland.