Is there any validity to gay pheromones?
January 19, 2008
Have you ever tried, or been with someone who used these "gay pheromone" products? One such product is "Intense" found on 10percent.com. Is it physical, psychological, or only so much hype?
Ever the skeptic, I had an enjoyable time researching Intense. I was fully prepared to decide it was so much bullshit. To my surprise that’s not what I found. I think the product works. But don’t rush out and lather yourself up with the stuff though. I wouldn’t spend a dime on it, and you may not want to do so either.
Here’s the scoop. Intense is a cologne-like product marketed at the gay community and produced by the Human Pheromone Science Institute. It’s an impressive sounding name, but the company is hardly a non-profit research center. They’re traded on the NASDAQ under EROX, and have a 52-week high of about $3 per share. Their low is about 18 cents a share, and right now they’re at about 50 cents, which under NASDAQ rules puts them in the danger zone for being delisting. Definitely not a good stock to buy right now. I tracked the folks at the HPSI down on the web and tried to go to their website. Unsurprisingly, it took me to a site that sold their products but provided little information about the company or products themselves. What I did find was that their site didn't advertise Intense at all. It focused on Realm, another cologne-like product marketed towards the straight community. My guess is that it’s the same stuff packaged in two different bottles.
A ll of the advertising materials I was able to find for both Realm and Intense indicated that it had human pheromones in them to make you more attractive to members whatever sex you particularly like. I have no doubt Intense will attract people, but only in the same way that cheap cologne supposedly makes you smell better. That’s why all of their "scientific studies" found that people with Intense were more attractive. The studies would have found the same affect for almost any cologne.
But their advertising didn’t stop there. It went into a load of bullcrap about humans having a sixth sense called the vomeronasal organ. I found this to be a pathetic reference to the sense of smell. The advertising also boasted how the pheromones are actually in powder form, therefore requiring last amounts of alcohol and water in the product. In cologne circles, the more water and cologne means the lower the quality of the product. I can only therefore conclude their sales are more due to the hot Stephen Underhill photograph in their ads rather than the quality of the stuff itself.
If you want to know whether their product works, think of it this way. They’re selling a super-cheap cologne that has some sort of "scientific wonder chemical" that supposedly makes you “mysteriously irresistible”. Yet their stock is trading at less than a buck a share, and they’re facing possible delisting thereby rendering their stock effectively worthless. That’s hardly a convincing argument for their effectiveness.
Intense costs $34.95 for a 2 oz bottle. A 4 oz. bottle of Ralph Lauren’s Polo only costs $10 more at Macy’s. Go but yourself a bottle of that. At least we know it smells good.
Here’s the scoop. Intense is a cologne-like product marketed at the gay community and produced by the Human Pheromone Science Institute. It’s an impressive sounding name, but the company is hardly a non-profit research center. They’re traded on the NASDAQ under EROX, and have a 52-week high of about $3 per share. Their low is about 18 cents a share, and right now they’re at about 50 cents, which under NASDAQ rules puts them in the danger zone for being delisting. Definitely not a good stock to buy right now. I tracked the folks at the HPSI down on the web and tried to go to their website. Unsurprisingly, it took me to a site that sold their products but provided little information about the company or products themselves. What I did find was that their site didn't advertise Intense at all. It focused on Realm, another cologne-like product marketed towards the straight community. My guess is that it’s the same stuff packaged in two different bottles.
A ll of the advertising materials I was able to find for both Realm and Intense indicated that it had human pheromones in them to make you more attractive to members whatever sex you particularly like. I have no doubt Intense will attract people, but only in the same way that cheap cologne supposedly makes you smell better. That’s why all of their "scientific studies" found that people with Intense were more attractive. The studies would have found the same affect for almost any cologne.
But their advertising didn’t stop there. It went into a load of bullcrap about humans having a sixth sense called the vomeronasal organ. I found this to be a pathetic reference to the sense of smell. The advertising also boasted how the pheromones are actually in powder form, therefore requiring last amounts of alcohol and water in the product. In cologne circles, the more water and cologne means the lower the quality of the product. I can only therefore conclude their sales are more due to the hot Stephen Underhill photograph in their ads rather than the quality of the stuff itself.
If you want to know whether their product works, think of it this way. They’re selling a super-cheap cologne that has some sort of "scientific wonder chemical" that supposedly makes you “mysteriously irresistible”. Yet their stock is trading at less than a buck a share, and they’re facing possible delisting thereby rendering their stock effectively worthless. That’s hardly a convincing argument for their effectiveness.
Intense costs $34.95 for a 2 oz bottle. A 4 oz. bottle of Ralph Lauren’s Polo only costs $10 more at Macy’s. Go but yourself a bottle of that. At least we know it smells good.
