How sneaky. A new scientific study suggests that women who smelled like sweat were evaluated as less competent and trustworthy by other people. But since the study was commissioned by Procter and Gamble, they're pulling all the stops in order to convince you to buy their brand of deodorant.

The study aimed to sniff out if smells could influence social and professional relationships. Researchers showed groups of over 100 men and women short videos featuring women doing ordinary activities like working, home making, and childcare. While watching, the men sniffed pads soaked in sweat collected from 44 women during stressful situations, exercise, and sweat treated with deodorant.

The results showed that the men had fairly strong negative reactions while sniffing the untreated stress and exercise sweat. They rated the women as less confident, trustworthy and competent.

Since the sweat spiked with deodorant elicited no negative reaction, this led researchers to conclude that these negative impressions could be reversed if women simply wore deodorant. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out which brand they want you to buy it from.

Read the full study on PLoS One