He’s no looker, his hair is receding, his eyebrows meet in the middle, but nevertheless there are literally 100s of people around the world that regularly dream of him, talk with him, and receive some of the wisest advice they could ever garner. I am not a religious man, I don’t purport that this is either the face of God, or as I am sure many religious fundamentalists might react, Satan, but whoever he is he’s managed to do one thing, and that is tap in to the collective psyche in a way that no other has.

ThisMan.org are on a quest to find the answer, proposing a whole ream of theories to explain the phenomena, which you can read up on here. Those theories include some of my own pet faves, such as the Archetype Theory, something that those familiar with Carl Jung‘s works will be well aware of, the Religious Theory, and a very intriguing Dream Surfer Theory.

Here is a quick run down on the beginning of this modern myth according to ThisMan.org -"In January 2006 in New York, the patient of a well-known psychiatrist draws the face of a man that has been repeatedly appearing in her dreams. On more than one occasion that man has given her advice on her private life. The woman swears she has never met the man in her life. That portrait lay forgotten on the psychiatrist’s desk for a few days until another patient recognizes that face and says that the man has often visited him in his dreams. He also claims he has never seen that man in his waking life. The psychiatrist decides to send the portrait to some of his colleagues that have patients with recurrent dreams. Within a few months, four patients recognize the man as a frequent presence in their own dreams. All the patients refer to him as THIS MAN."

See other dream interpretations of this subconscious face for the masses here. Posters are beginning to appear all over the world asking for more witnesses, others who may have been contacted by This Man. It should be a fascinating insight into the complete lack of understanding of sleep, dreaming, and the potential of the mind to surpass a logical framework superimposed in order to maintain our race at an equilibrium of function over desire – but for one problem…

The fact is the domain ThisMan.org is registered by Italian guerilla marketing company www.guerrigliamarketing.it which more than likely means that this is probably one of the most subversive and subtle campaigns ever initiated. There’s still no clue as to why, for instance what product they may eventually promote using this ploy, it could be a vast market research program analysing gullibility, but I’d like to think that these cheeky Italians are just doing it for the kicks.

Always take life in the 21st Century with a pinch of salt, lying is the ultimate form of marketing, and it’s seeping into every walk of life, then again exaggeration and untruths are as old as mankind. At least art does it for a purer purpose, to allow us to question ourselves and the nature of reality. This Man will probably be selling you potato chips in the next few years.

This post is tagged face of god, guerilla marketing, ThisMan.org