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January 25, 2005

Depression Sells

Dr. Cliff Arnall claims he's got a formula for pinpointing the most depressing day of the year. The unlucky date? Yesterday.

Why January 24th? Well, it's complicated; Arnall's formula takes into account factors like the day of the week (Monday) and people's tendency to break New Year's resolutions by late January. But more interesting than the math behind his conclusion is the impetus for the work: leveraging bad vibes for dollars.

Arnall, a psychologist who specializes in seasonal disorders at the University of Cardiff, Wales, developed the formula for PR agency Porter Novelli. In turn, Porter Novelli's client, a travel agency called Sky Travel, is using Arnall's findings to help seduce weary souls into getting away from it all with things like round trip tickets to Tahiti or a suite on the next Caribbean cruise line. In other words, the worse you feel about things like your job and the weather, the more susceptible you'll be to escape-themed advertising.

Science, opportunism or a win-win situation?

Posted by Lucas Conley at January 25, 2005 4:32 PM | Category: sales + marketing | 5 Comments

5 COMMENTS

Posted by: Richard Armytage Bowen at January 25, 2005 5:22 PM

Just a little correction. Cardiff is the capital city of Wales (not Whales), a small principality to the west of England.

Apologies for appearing to be anal about this, but our country has already disappeared TWICE off the official EU map in the last year.

Posted by: joe at January 27, 2005 12:26 AM

Why do you say this "formula" is complicated? It consists of one subtraction, one addition, and a few multiplications. That's fourth grade math, how is that complicated?

More importantly, did you look closely at the "formula"? It is not math. It is not science. It is nonsensical garbage. It's got undefined, unmeasurable values, it's got unstated units, it doesn't have an equal sign!

Posted by: Bob Curran at January 27, 2005 1:13 AM

Depression is too serious a problem with too many people today to trivialize it. Overcoming depression is possible with an ever expanding array today of anti-depressant medications and therapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy! One guide line: If you aren't feeling well, don't make any life changing decisions! Consult your doctor...80% is treatable! Don't give up!

Posted by: Bob Curran at January 27, 2005 1:14 AM

Posted by: Anonymous at February 2, 2005 3:45 PM