Why did thousands of people claim to see the same stranger in their dreams?
In short: In 2008, a mysterious website asked if you had ever dreamed of a specific, plain-faced man. The story went viral, with thousands claiming they had encountered him. It was a masterfully crafted hoax, yet the legend persisted long after the creator admitted it was all a marketing stunt.
The phenomenon began in 2008 when Italian sociologist Andrea Natella launched the website Ever Dream This Man? The site claimed that since 2006, over 8,000 people worldwide had reported seeing the same man in their dreams. According to the fabricated narrative, a New York psychiatrist first sketched the man after a patient described him as a recurring figure. When other patients recognized the drawing, the psychiatrist shared it with colleagues, eventually leading to global reports of sightings in cities ranging from Los Angeles to Tokyo.
In 2010, Natella revealed the project was a guerrilla marketing campaign. He admitted to creating the original sketch based on a photo of his own father and using the app Ultimate Flash Face to generate the iconic image. Despite this confession, the hoax proved remarkably resilient. It tapped into psychological concepts like Carl Jung’s archetypes and the power of suggestion, effectively priming people to believe they had encountered the figure. Even major media outlets like Vice were initially fooled, publishing interviews years later as if the phenomenon were legitimate.
The legacy of This Man has transcended its origins as a marketing stunt, embedding itself into global pop culture. The image has appeared in films like Lucid Dream, TV shows like The X-Files, and various manga series, including Dandadan and a dedicated 2018 title. Musicians and content creators, from K-pop groups like SEVENTEEN to podcast hosts, have utilized the meme for promotional material. While the original film project by Ghost House Pictures never materialized, the figure remains a persistent urban legend, demonstrating the internet's unique capacity to manufacture and sustain collective myths.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: This Man
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