George Clooney Lifts iFart Sales

It\’s been almost THREE years since iFart stunk up the iTunes Appstore. On December 12, 2008, iFart exploded on the scene and the world has not been the same.

I was perhaps the first app creator to go public with statistics related to sales and rank shortly after the app came out.

iFart has now become a part of pop culture and iPhone history, even worthy of it\’s own Wikipedia page.

Celebrities such as Helena Bonham Carter, Colin Firth, Lance Armstrong, Jon Stewart, Demi Moore, David Duchovny, Robin Williams, Kathie-Lee Gifford and Bill Maher have all publicly mentioned iFart.

Now one of Hollywood\’s biggest stars has claimed iFart as one of his favorite apps. It\’s none other than George Clooney.

In the December 2011 edition of Rolling Stone Magazine, George shares many things about his life. But one paragraph is particularly relevant.

In discussing farts, Clooney says…

\”[My friends and I] think it\’s one of the funniest things in the history of mankind. Even the idea of a fart makes me laugh. Saying the word \’fart\’ makes me laugh. I have iFart on my phone. I have remote whoopee cushions. Farts. To me, there\’s nothing funnier.\”

Fun stuff!

Well, the purpose of this entry is to illustrate how a celebrity mention of an application can affect sales. Since I have blogged about sales and rank in the past, this seemed to be an opportunity to pull back the curtain and reveal what happened when George confessed his love for farts.

I call it \”The Clooney Effect.\”

For those not familiar with iFart, you can read more about the app at the official site, iFartMobile.com.

The December 2011 issue of Rolling Stone featuring \”the Sexiest Man Alive\” (whatever)

iFart has sold hundreds of thousands of units to date. However, sales have tapered off over the past six months. It has found a fairly stable ranking in the appstore during this time, usually coming in between #175-#225 in the iPhone Entertainment category (US store).

The interesting thing to me is that people seek out iFart by name. I don\’t do ANY advertising or marketing for the app. So that\’s the only explanation for sales of 60 – 100 units each day. It happens like clockwork, with weekend sales being higher than the rest of the week.

I have a Google Alert set up for \”ifart\”, and it isn\’t surprising to see it mentioned on a blog or in a media source every few weeks. But it\’s the big score that I am looking for.

The afternoon of November 9th I received an alert that made me smile. The news of Clooney\’s interview with Rolling Stone and his love of farts become headline fodder around the world. Hundreds of media outlets and blogs picked up on tales of his exploits. A Google News search for \”George Clooney ifart\” reveals story after story reporting and repeating the news.

You gotta love free publicity!

The day before the story broke iFart sold 67 units and was #200 in the Entertainment category of the appstore.

On 11/9/11, sales rocketed up to 348 units.

As the story continued to spread internationally, sales rose for the next couple days, selling 431 and 432 units respectively.

At it\’s peak during this time, iFart ranked #23 in the Entertainment category, just shy of breaking into the top 200 overall.

Sales have fallen since the story has had its day, but I am watching the residual impact of the coverage. More than one week later, the app is selling more than double what was typical before the story broke.

Following is a chart showing sales for the period 11/4/11 – 11/18/11.

I find it amazing that almost three years after release, people are still talking about our silly novelty application. And it\’s interesting how one man\’s mention of an app can create sales.

Thanks for your support of iFart, George. I do like some of your films.

Maybe I should name a fart after him. Hmmmm….

Are you an iPhone developer? Would love to know if this information is useful for you.

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