Pherotones

Status: Hoax
image Pherotones are ringtones that will make you "irresistible to the opposite sex." They're basically like pheromones, but they work via sound rather than scent. They're also a hoax. According to NewsTrend.com, the website promoting them is part of a viral marketing campaign dreamed up by the McKinney-Silver ad agency. NewsTrend writes:

The first mentions of Pherotones began around December 30, on "Dr. Vanderhood's" Pherotones blog, where the good doctor began posting "an ongoing diary of the life of a scientist on the verge of a major breakthrough." The JoniMueller blog caught wind of the Pherotones blog and posted about it on January 16. The real story began to break on January 18th with an Oreilly interview with Vanderhood.

The strange thing is that no one knows what this stealth marketing campaign is for. It seems a bit useless to attract all this attention, and then blow it by not revealing what you're advertising. (Thanks to Thilo for the link.)

Sex/Romance Websites

Posted on Fri Jan 20, 2006



Comments

Alex said:

"The strange thing is that no one knows what this stealth marketing campaign is for. It seems a bit useless to attract all this attention, and then blow it by not revealing what you're advertising."

That just shows how stealth it is!
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Fri Jan 20, 2006  at  06:15 PM
Most of the ringtones I hear do give me an irresistible urge ... to grab the damn phone, fling it on the ground, and stomp on it repeatedly. Does that count as a pherotone?
Posted by Big Gary  on  Fri Jan 20, 2006  at  07:05 PM
No, Gary, that's an annoyatone.
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Sat Jan 21, 2006  at  12:35 AM
A larger part of the story is that they posted a fake wikipedia entry as part of the stunt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pherotone

They are also violating copyright by copying forums and blogs that mention the website.

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/01/a_ringtone_that_really_gets_un_1.html (read the comments section)
Posted by moving slowly without measure  on  Sat Jan 21, 2006  at  07:18 PM
I talked to the "docter" who came up with this bullhocky. heres my convo:

meowHollymeow: You there docter?
drpherotone: Yes, for a little while longer...
meowHollymeow: Does your pherotone thing actually work?
drpherotone: I believe that a pherotone worked on me...
drpherotone: I have first hand experience...
meowHollymeow: So, your saying i'm supposed to be arroused when I hear the ring tone?
drpherotone: Not necessarily. Pherotones are highly individualized, not every pherotone works on everybody...did you have a favorite.
drpherotone: It's ok if they make you smile, they might stillbe working.
meowHollymeow: I really like some, they sound like something I'd normally listen to.. but it just sounds like pretty music to me
meowHollymeow: Are you there?
drpherotone: yes, just juggling a lot. I'm building my friendster blog, two im's
drpherotone: still there...sorry if I lost you...come back :-\
meowHollymeow: No, I'm here.
meowHollymeow: I've just read about this on O'Reilly factor website and such, and it seems sort of..well, silly... are you serious about your work? I mean, like, are people just poking fun at you?
drpherotone: W're on Bill O'reilly? Are you joking?
meowHollymeow: Haha, no, here
meowHollymeow: http://www.oreillynet.com/etel/blog/2006/01/a_ringtone_that_really_gets_un_1.html
drpherotone: Oh, yeah...that was a good interview. he's a nice man.
meowHollymeow: Yep. Interesting stuff.
meowHollymeow: So, how have you studied this? Have you conducted any trials
drpherotone: No large scale, double blind trials. That's our number one goal right now.
meowHollymeow: So what kind of docter are you?
drpherotone: I like to think of myself as an Erotic Healer.
meowHollymeow: Have you had any training? Like, have you gone to college?
drpherotone: I went to college off and on for over 16 years...and then I travelled all over the world
meowHollymeow: All over the world, eh? Sounds fun. So, what do/did you do to get the money for that?

After, I swear, 10 minutes she said "i'm independantly wealthy"
Sure, ma'am. Sure.
Talk to her, shes a trip
Posted by Holly  on  Mon Jan 23, 2006  at  07:03 PM
Pheromone Ring Tones (Pherotones)
free download (PC/Motorola v3)
Posted by Nikola  on  Thu Aug 03, 2006  at  03:21 PM
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