Genesis Wants Your House to Smell Like Your Car

Opening the box, however, revealed a gift box lavishly wrapped in a silk kerchief and a sprig of… something that smelled nice. Eucalyptus? Lavender, perhaps? Who knows? We're not botanists. Anyway, pulling away the lush fabric wrapping revealed a black box with Genesis branding and the phrase "Heighten your senses." Inside it, nestled in perfect little cutouts—seriously, the packaging was Apple electronics level—were three candles and another phrase: "Both on and off the road."

Now, before I could scratch my head at the notion of off-roading the decidedly low-slung G90 sedan—hey, its air suspension has a raised height option, but only for traversing particularly spicy speed humps or driveway entrances—my wife walked into the room, eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Who sent you candles?"

Fearing one of those accusatory "WHO IS SHE?!"-type conversations, I sheepishly found myself explaining how a car company (er, Claudia, its chief operating officer) had sent me what appeared to be some kind of through-the-mail seduction kit. Indeed, between the packaging and the wonderful scents wafting from it, the gift was some massage oils and chocolate-dipped strawberries away from a more awkward discussion with my better half.

As any adult can relate, our household is forever short on candles to offset the smells of us, our newborn, and our aromatic dog, making this gift particularly welcome. Even more fun, the trio of scented candles were matched to the scents Genesis pipes through the G90's air conditioning system: The Great Outdoors, My Favorite Place, and The Driver's Awakening. Little placards explaining each scent also were included in the candle box, as was a Genesis-branded matchbox, making this a ready-to-candle kit.

The Great Outdoors: "A fragrance full of fresh energy that provides healing from the tiring daily life for a while, with hints of lemon, melon, orchid, lily, musk, and sandalwood."

My Favorite Place: "A fragrance that deeply and heavily expresses the vitality of the forest-thickened air after rain, with notes of bergamot, ginger, orchid, magnolia, and cedarwood."

The Driver's Awakening: "A fragrance that expresses the fresh and lively energy of the grass soaked in dawn dew, with notes of bergamot, lemon, orchid, violet, musk, and cedarwood."

In the car, you can set the level of perfumage via the climate control touchscreen panel; tapping the little button that looks like spray-paint can changes the perfume density between three levels, or off entirely. Or one can go into the vehicle settings for climate controls, select the strength of the perfuming and which scent. Another option? The Mood Curator, wherein each scent is tailored to one of four "moods" that change the interior lighting, sunshade position, and music.

Is it weird to light a candle that smells like, well, the inside of your car? We don't mind—not only does it enhance continuity between our decidedly not-luxurious home and the G90's definitely luxurious innards, the three candles smell great. Plus, the gift is a great aftersales way to remind customers of how fancy their car's climate control system is. Everyone's purchased a car from a dealer and left not knowing how exactly every feature onboard works (especially these days, what with all the software menus to mine)—we bet a few G90 owners received these candles and sniffed out a feature they hadn't yet encountered or played with.