Pherotones

Some weeks ago I drafted an entry about a site that people might have taken seriously, but was actually a marketing ploy. I held it up as the site seemed to disappear ... but now it's back. It purports to tell you about scientific research which has resulted in being able to download ringtones that make you irrestistable to the opposite sex. I think the NYT article will be there, anyway. The Pherotones website http://www.pherotones.com/index.php originated as a blog, that for a short while people took seriously, and eventually emerged as promotion (example of buzz marketing, because people were linking to it and telling each other about it) for Oasys Mobile. Also an article about it:
Bosman, J. (2006) Fakin' it: a marketer intends to tease consumers New York times, 16 Feb.
Wikipedia was conned by it for a while but I now can't even find the page where it said that the information had been removed.

Photo by Sheila Webber: Yellow roses, , back in Sheffield, UK, June 2006.