Photo by Sanah Suvarna on Unsplash

It’s not exactly how the saying goes, but in the case of Guillaume Rolland’s aromatic alarm clock, “wake up and smell the money” is really quite accurate. This 18-year-old French entrepreneur has come up with an ingenious alarm clock that uses scents instead of ear-ripping beeps and dings to wake people up. The craziest thing about it is that it actually works, according to those who’ve used it.

Guillaume reportedly envisioned his alarm clock after a discussion with his dad, who runs a retirement home. Of the people living there, some of them are deaf or hard of hearing. So he created an alarm clock that works not only for this demographic, but also for the rest of the world.

According to Entrepreneur.com, adults, teens, and seniors alike have successfully woken up to the aroma of freshly-cut grass, peach, toast, chocolate, strawberry, rose, fig, mint, or hot croissants. Believe it or not, even the smell of hard cash is available as a cartridge. The deaf have also confirmed that it works.

Guillaume nabbed the #1 spot with his little invention, and he’s even been invited on guest shows to present it on TV. The short clip below explains the nuts and bolts.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/CYPE-Kc97YY[/youtube]