On Thursday, Twitter user @TheBrotographer, found a travel advert for an island called Eroda. After extensive research, he discovered this country does not actually exist:
i was scrolling through twitter and this ad popped up and y'all know i love looking at pretty pictures of places i can't afford to visit so i decided to take the bait and check out this place i had never heard of
On the website you can find a relatively detailed map of the island, complete with town names and rivers.
so i try to look up the island and some of the towns in it the website mentioned and just ????? nothing (reposting this tweet cuz the original screenshot had my email visible π¬)
After a quick internet search it became quickly apparent Eroda, and all of the mentioned towns do not exist. But this is only the tip of the iceburg.
It wasn't long before people started to realise thing's were a little fishy...
@TheBrotographer whoever is doing this has like... money https://t.co/x9NBXlEtL4
The website started running 32 targeted ads across Facebook and Instagram on Thursday and Friday of this week, in six different languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and German. At the same time they started popping up on Twitter.
@TheBrotographer Just got it too, but in French!
Nothing seemed to add up, the website was full of images you could find elsewhere on the internet.
@TheBrotographer if you google search one of the images in the attractions portion on the website, this is what comes up.... and this is where it is... so yeah, be wary everyone lol
Needing answers, Twitter began to search for the person behind the website...
@TheBrotographer If you look up the URL on https://t.co/kGNMzhEmow it tells us the domain is registered with MarkMonitor, a domain website. Big whoop. BUT it does show this domain was made on 10/28/19 so the 2004 is a red herring.
The website itself is registered to markmonitor.com, an american company who's website states it "helps establish and protect the online presence of the world's leading brands β and the billions who use them."
me: finding out about #VisitEroda WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING
Soon people began to get into the detail and realize that some of the text on this website is ~wild~.
@TheBrotographer i donβt know if this is a clue but on their website there seems to be a running theme to do with hairstyles/hairdressers?
And the internet is rife with theories about what the heck is going on...
@CMacpherson39 @AGoldmund @FakeFanAdam @TheBrotographer @PJVogt @replyall Some of the content will relate to specific plot points - the whole fish thing makes it quite Innsmouth-y, and the haircut thing gets mentioned enough that it's probably significant. That the name's Adore backwards will be something too.
@TheBrotographer (hereβs what it says on wikipedia)
@TheBrotographer when i took a marketing class they told us to create an online presence for whatever we wanted, and whoever got the most attention got an automatic A, so this could be the student you were talking about
Eroda is real. Everywhere else is fake. #VisitEroda #YouWillNeverLeave https://t.co/XY1ghM4Wff
@TheBrotographer Whenever weird stuff like this comes up I always call money laundering. I've never been proven right or wrong but I'm pretty sure I'm always 100% right.
Okay Iβve been looking too deeply into the whole #VisitEroda thing and itβs definitely a video game promo someone please support my claim
@TheBrotographer This is where real life midsommar probably takes place
@TheBrotographer @joellaphant Itβs a YouTuber I bet. Theyβll probably drop a video in a month titled βwe made a fake country and promoted it on social mediaβ
@TheBrotographer "There's NO land quite like it" the slogan itself is a hint...
Some people didn't care if Eeroda was real or not, they were just happy to be involved:
She was an amazing performer, didnt catch her name but if sheβs here in Eroda again I will definitely be back to visit! ππ #VisitEroda
@TheBrotographer Now there's people roleplaying in the replies. I'll be so disappointed if this turns out to be nothing
@TheBrotographer Not sure if relevant but I looked up their Instagram and read through the tags and 2 people are either part of this or just playing along. They both posted the same photo at the same time But the one chick has a really bizarre bio. Sheβs also a huge theater nerd. Could be related
Dreaming of peaceful days in @eroda #NoLandQuiteLikeIt #VisitEroda #sponsored
At the end of the day, there is only one question that matters...
@TheBrotographer Well are u gonna visit or not
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