As negative purchase reviews for incense candles that emit a good scent increased, an analysis showed that the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) continued.
The inability to smell well is one of the typical symptoms of COVID-19. It is explained that as the olfactory paralysis came at the early stage of infection, it became difficult to smell well, which led to a negative reaction to the product.
According to the Guardian on the 13th (local time), negative reviews for the US representative scented candle brand ‘Yankee Candle’ surged on social network services (SNS) in the fall of 2020, when Corona 19 spread in the US and UK. Even at the beginning of this year, when the Omicron mutation swept the world, dissatisfied product reviews such as “It doesn’t smell the same as before” increased.
Scientists say negative reviews about incense candles are a harbinger of a rise in COVID-19. Dr. Jorge Cavalero, an American medical scientist and founder of Coders, a private organization that researches COVID-19, said on his SNS on the 9th, “The bad product evaluation of Yankee Candle means that the Corona 19 will increase rapidly.” said
Nick Beauchamp, a professor at Northeastern University in the United States, confirmed the correlation between the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and the reviews of Yankee Candle purchases on Amazon through a paper published in the Journal of the American Academy of Artificial Intelligence in May.
As a result of reviewing 10,000 Yankee Candle purchase reviews, it was found that for every 100,000 new confirmed cases, the number of “no smell” purchases increased by 0.25%. Product reviews complaining about ‘Vera Wang’ perfume, a perfume brand popular with women, also increased with the spread of Corona 19.
However, recently this rule has not been met. As a result of analyzing the reviews of Amazon Yankee Candle purchases in the past four months by Professor Beau Champ, the number of negative purchase reviews saying “there is no smell” increased, but the number of new corona19 confirmed cases decreased during the same period.
Professor Beauchamp said, “The negative purchase reviews of incense candles and the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases coincided for three years, but now they are starting to diverge. It seems to have had an impact,” he said. He added, “It is noteworthy that many people have learned that the inability to smell scented candles is an early symptom of COVID-19.”