CINCINNATI — Procter & Gamble Co.’s Febreze brand is introducing the Febreze Fade Defy PLUG, the microchip smart technology that is programmed to digitally manage temperatures to control how much scent is released to smell first-day fresh for 50 days (on low).

“Consumers buy plug-in air fresheners when they want their home to smell great 24/7. But we kept hearing from consumers that plug-ins don’t deliver on the advertised promise of long-lasting scent,” says Morgan Brashear, Febreze senior scientist. “At Febreze, we made it our mission to address the scent fade issue once and for all by applying technology in a category where most people wouldn’t expect it.”

All plug-ins have a built-in warmer that heats up the oil to release scent. Febreze product designers and scientists said they believed that controlling the plug warmer’s temperature would be key to ensuring freshness that did not dissipate. Consumer testing focused on analyzing the reported level of scent versus the plug warmer’s temperature. These temperatures were then preprogrammed into the Febreze Fade Defy PLUG microchip to make sure that the warmer would ramp up and down according to the selected scent intensity level. On the low setting, this makes it possible to get that first-day fresh smell for 50 days.

In addition, the Febreze Fade Defy PLUG is designed with a dual-wick system that automatically switches between two slightly different, complementary scents every 45 minutes. This serves a dual purpose: to ensure that consumers don’t become accustomed or “noseblind” to the scent, and to prevent the plug-in’s wick from becoming clogged so that the scent is always released freely into the air.

The product team created the Febreze Fade Defy PLUG with a blue “end-of-life” LED light on top of its warmer that turns on to signal when the oil has completely run out and needs to be refilled. The programmed microchip is part of a printed circuit board (PCB) inside the plug-in device, similar to what’s inside a calculator, smart phone, or computer, and is designed to know or reset when the new refill is inserted, in addition to digitally managing the release of scent.

Febreze Fade Defy PLUG is available online and at retailers nationwide selling for a suggested $5.49, in varieties such as Linen & Sky, Gain and LIGHT Bamboo.