A press release today trumpets a "made for social media" unisex attraction fragrance called Erox. Because the scent "has been proven to increase feelings of arousal, excitement, social warmth and friendliness in both female and male users," it somehow makes sense to launch, sell and market it "through the use of social media and forum communities." I see two problems with this.
First: Why would you market perfume over the Internet? Isn't that giant hall of competing perfumes one of the only reasons department stores still exist? Until Smell-o-vision sees the light of day, the message will be lost online. And if human pheromones really are at work here, then olfactory descriptions — no matter how florid — will do it no justice.
Second: Has it occurred to anyone that the most successful social media participants may very well be successful because they sit alone in their basement, replying to every tweet and Facebook update in their network? This leaves them very little time to shower, let alone go out and exchange pheromones.
While Erox has been around for a while, going by the name "Natural Attraction," a company called CrowdGather has acquired its Internet affiliate marketing rights, whatever those are, hence the press release. I certainly wish the business venture good luck, and look forward to the social-media shampoo, toothpaste and bath oils that will inevitably follow, but I remain perplexed.
More on social media on TODAY Digital Life:
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- Bill: Parents can ask Facebook to remove kids' info
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