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Omicron May Be Causing Negative Amazon Reviews for Some Brands (businessinsider.com) 71

Posted by msmash from the not-the-onion dept.
Yankee Candle reviews on Amazon may be the latest indicator of COVID's surge nationwide. Ichijo shares a report: Some customers who recently purchased from the scented-candle brand using Amazon are flooding the site with negative reviews that say the candles have a barely noticeable scent or no scent at all. While many reviewers gave the candles five stars and described a strong scent reminiscent of Christmas trees, others said they couldn't smell anything or could only smell burning wax. "I've bought this candle before, and the fragrance would fill the room. This one barely has a scent. Boo," said one December 20 review for Yankee Candle's balsam and cedar scent. "No scent whatsoever unless you face-plant into the glass vessel. Burned it for eight hours and, ta-da, NO fragrance," another reviewer wrote on December 19. But the candles may not be the problem. Those customers may have lost their sense of smell, a symptom of COVID-19. Loss of smell, known as anosmia, has become one of the defining symptoms of COVID. While some people regain the ability to smell upon recovering from COVID, others report being unable to smell for months, or even a year, after having COVID. Nick Beauchamp, an assistant professor of political science at Northeastern University, charted the complaints for the top three Yankee Candles on Amazon. He tracked when the negative reviews began and how much those complaints increased per week. His graph showed a sharp spike around December, just as the Omicron variant led to a new wave of COVID cases in the US.
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Omicron May Be Causing Negative Amazon Reviews for Some Brands More

Omicron May Be Causing Negative Amazon Reviews for Some Brands

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  • Some people may be gasping their last in ICU, but worse than that, Gwyneth suddenly doesn't like the smell of her organic peacewax vagey scent candles. Quelle horreur!

    • I smell BS. Stop with all the fearmongering. (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Omicron is causing people to lose their sense of smell? BFD... As long as you're still alive and now have immunity to more deadly variants, you're still way ahead in my opinion.

      Articles like this are just worthless fearmongering to try to keep people from going out and facing Omicron head on. The deep state depopulation plan is pooched if enough people catch Omicron to create genuine herd immunity. No more lockdowns, no more death jab mandates, no more face condumbs. FJB!

      • Re:I smell BS. Stop with all the fearmongering. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Wycliffe ( 116160 ) on Wednesday December 29, 2021 @12:10PM (#62125297) Homepage

        I didn't see this as fearmongering. Just an amusing unintentional side effect. Basically, people are losing their sense of smell for certain scents and don't realize it so it is being reflected in reviews of real world products. This is similar to google's attempts to track flu outbreaks based on what people are searching for on the web. You can do the same with sales histories. If sales of tissues spike in a certain area you can know people are blowing their noses more. If it crosses with sales of claritin then it's likely allergies. If it crosses with sales of tylenol then it's likely an illness.

        • If you have to feed the AC troll, do you REALLY need to propagate the BS Subject?

          Yeah, the new Subject is a recursive joke, though the topic is not funny. Americans are being played for suckers, and not just when it comes to Covid-19.

          Divide and conquer is a great strategy, though sometimes it's hard to tell when you've been conquered (as when your viewpoint is too close). By the time we correlate the damage, the cause will already have mutated into a new variant, and at some point SARS-CoV-2 is going to str

          • Yes, correlation is not causation but as I said in a different post, if the correlation shows predictive power, it can be quite useful. For instance google has shown that they can predict a flu outbreak days before the CDC. This could give communities extra time to take preventative measures like advising immunocompromised people to wear masks or avoid large gatherings. It could also give stores and hospitals extra time to stock up on potentially needed supplies for a surge.

            • Who would have thought that buying scented candles made people more susceptible to Covid-19.

              Wow. The power of big data.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by shanen ( 462549 )

              I think I saw that comment when I looked at the larger discussion. If I arrive early, then I tend to start at the beginning to see which way things are heading. (And if I notice a trollish ior vacuous Subject, then I may try to change it to something more constructive.) Later on I tend to look at the "mature" discussions in search of Funny. Mostly disappointed these days, as by the possible attempt at a joke in the other reply to your reply.

        • I didn't see this as fearmongering. Just an amusing unintentional side effect.

          See you missed the right-wingnut playbook details where any discussion of COVID that doesn't constantly downplay it is fearmongering and any discussion of racism is the "real" racism. Don't you know that if people stopped talking about bad things then those bad things would stop happening? Or at least they wouldn't be in the news and as far as your average fascist goes, that's good as.

      • Previous infection with delta does not provide good immunity to Omicron. Omicron will probably provide some immunity to the next variant, but it will likely wane over time as well, or be less effective against a very different strain.

        So you can get a shot regularly to keep from getting COVID, or you can get COVID regularly to "keep your immunity up". The latter is pretty much the definition of "unclear on the concept".

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          So you can get a shot regularly to keep from getting COVID

          Wait... Since when did the shots keep people from catching the latest COVID? Everything I've seen is that the shots are doing less and less as time goes by, to the point that their effectiveness level is now below placebo level effectiveness.

          • So you can get a shot regularly to keep from getting COVID

            Wait... Since when did the shots keep people from catching the latest COVID? Everything I've seen is that the shots are doing less and less as time goes by, to the point that their effectiveness level is now below placebo level effectiveness.

            The standard two shot regimen from months ago won't stop you from getting it, but still does a great job of keeping you out of hospital. Even with Omicron most serious cases are still among the unvaccinated. A recent booster does a pretty good job of keeping you from getting COVID.

            I suspect as the virus continues to mutate, we will probably be getting new shots for the predominant variants every year just like the flu.

      • Omicron is causing people to lose their sense of smell? BFD... As long as you're still alive and now have immunity to more deadly variants, you're still way ahead in my opinion.

        Articles like this are just worthless fearmongering to try to keep people from going out and facing Omicron head on. The deep state depopulation plan is pooched if enough people catch Omicron to create genuine herd immunity. No more lockdowns, no more death jab mandates, no more face condumbs. FJB!

        Wish they would hurry up and "depopulate" the severely mentally handicapped like you who don't understand and ignore science. You are ignoring people who have dedicated their lives to help keep people healthy and ensure we all live as long as possible. You are ignoring them to listen to some random youtuber who claims to have met Q at his local 7 Eleven and gotten the scoop on the deep state and hollywood pedophiles. Go put a rope around your neck bud. Figures someone with a shit take like that would post

    • I bought some down filled socks and they were filled with some cheap sponge foam instead. I let the seller know about my dissatisfaction and he assured me that it was his manufacturer who made the change without informing him. Fast forward 1yr and I try buying it again with the same issue. So clearly he is ripping off Amazon customers, and Amazon doesn't care enough to pull the seller for false advertising. Probably happening with these stupid candles too.
      • You gave that guy a second order for the same product? You kind of deserved getting screwed the second time.

    • Yeah suffering long terms of effects of a disease is definitely what I call a "first world problem"...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shanen ( 462549 )

      Mod parent Funny not Funny?

    • In the previous waves, both Alpha and Delta, lack of smell was a common early symptom *before* things got worse. As the number of people reporting lack of smell or altered smell this way goes up, that's more of a reason to be concerned. Unfortunately, this proxy is one of the better ones we actually have in the US right now because our testing is so inconsistent and because data compilation and reporting is irregular during the holiday season.

      • Mod parent UPPPP!! (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        In the previous waves, both Alpha and Delta, lack of smell was a common early symptom *before* things got worse. As the number of people reporting lack of smell or altered smell this way goes up, that's more of a reason to be concerned.

        Excellent job of subtle fearmongering, comrade. Mod parent UPPPP!!

    • Actually, it's useful information for many. You would think many people would know you lose your sense of smell with Covid by now but clearly a ton of people do not.

      I check mine with coffee every morning.

      It's tough because I'm passing some key age where I feel bad on average more than I feel good on average.

  • It's not the virus (Score:3, Informative)

    by flynnieous ( 1542191 ) on Wednesday December 29, 2021 @12:18PM (#62125333)
    Yankee Candle's quality starting plummeting shortly after the founder Michael Kittredge sold the place in 1998. Twenty years ago, they were still the best. Ten years ago, they barely smelled like anything. We haven't bought one of their candles in five years or so, but I don't think it's the customers's olfactory nerves that are the problem.
    • That or counterfeits, Amazon isn't very good with supply chain integrity, especially regarding reselling returns.
      • There is that, but we were getting them from the Yankee Candle outlets, and occasionally from the flagship store. They just ain't what they used to be.

    • Well you know things tend to go downhill in the autumn years.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by jellomizer ( 103300 )

      The reason why grandma had a dish of hard candies like lemon drops, is the fact when one gets older their sense of taste and smell diminishes. So those awful candies that you hated as a kid, because they were too strong and not nuanced in flavor compared to say a chocolate bar, are now more palatable and the chocolate bar is seems more bland.
      I am also willing to be a lot of the vegetables you hated as a kid as you remember them very bitter now are your favorite.

      As we get older our bodies and senses change.

      • Nope. Back in to '00s, we compared some older ones we still had to the newer ones. The scents had significantly decreased. I'll admit my sense of smell isn't what it used to be, but side-by-side comparisons confirmed our impression that Yankee Candle wasn't what it was. Kittredge also noticed the decline in quality and later founded Kringle Candle with his son in an effort to bring some quality back.
      • That is all.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Old story: If people are in it just for the money, the product goes to shit.

    • ... or so were the reports I've seen so far. So that "sharp spike around December, just as the Omicron variant led to a new wave of COVID cases in the US", very probably is a coincidence, not a causation.

  • With the "original" version of the novel coronavirus, I did not lose my sense of smell. The virus did Change my sense of smell and now some things smell differently. (My doctors aren't concerned with this "change".) I have had to re-identify things with their "new" smell. I am within 6 months of getting over the virus and some say that the sense of smell readjusts after 6 months.
    I am thankful that I didn't lose the sense of smell entirely as some report experiencing. Most things smell the same as they

    • Remember our perception of the universe that we live in, is just our brains reconstruction of electrical impulses that our nerves send over to us. And our other senses will often fill in the gaps. So changes to those impulses will cause our brains perceive things differently. Magicians know this, and use it to perform their tricks, with an object that is manipulated to give a false forced perspective image of itself. Contortionist who can move their bodies in unfamiliar ways, making your sure you attention

    • While your anecdotal evidence doesn't say much and the original version of the virus did cause loss of smell or taste for others, the fun thing here is that it is already known that the new omicron version of the virus rarely, if at all, causes loss of smell or taste...

  • A COVID-19 vaccine might:

    • Prevent you from getting COVID-19 or from becoming seriously ill or dying of COVID-19
    • Prevent you from spreading the COVID-19 virus to others
    • Add to the number of people in the community who are protected from getting COVID-19
    • Prevent the COVID-19 virus from spreading and replicating, which allows it to mutate and possibly become more resistant to vaccines

    COVID-19 vaccines: Get the facts [mayoclinic.org].

  • correlation? (Score:3)

    by bob_jenkins ( 144606 ) on Wednesday December 29, 2021 @12:55PM (#62125457) Homepage Journal

    Maybe the spike in negative reviews for Christmas candles in December is due to an increase in Christmas candles bought right before Christmas?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Junta ( 36770 )

      Even the person who originally plotted the data agrees with you:

      Still, both Beauchamp and Petrova have said that while this data seemed like evidence of a COVID surge, it shouldn't be treated like a scientific study.

      "I wouldn't take this too seriously," Beauchamp tweeted. "Even looking at percentages, there seems to be a seasonal surge in 'no smell' each winter."

      He made a chart without comment because it looked interesting. The world declared "look at the COVID!" and had him have to come back to declare the obvious alternate explanation. It would have been nicer if the plot went back to the 2019 holiday season so we could see a curve occur before significant spread of COVID had happened.

  • Maybe the candles sucked back then because the office people were filling in for the production people who were sick at home?

  • Most likely, either their quality control sucks - or they changed their outsourcing partner.

    Or, in anticipation of Christmas sales, they added a new source who makes weakly scented candles.

  • So, assuming these negative reviews come from people who have lost their sense of smell or have had it considerably impaired, would they not have noticed?

    Perhaps it's a sub-variant, that only stops them being able to smell Yankee Candles /s

    This is such a ridiculous bullshit story - either that, or the reviewers are utter morons.

    If you had lost your sense of smell, I'm pretty sure the last damn thing you would be worrying about is a frikkin' Yankee Candle.
    It would be glaringly obvious, from the morning coffe

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Pascoea ( 968200 )

      or the reviewers are utter morons.

      Doesn't take more than 30 seconds to find the idiotic reviewers on Amazon. And 25 of those seconds are spent navigating to the reviews. The number of "I ordered the wrong size", "this arrived late", "UPS demolished the box", "This is cheaper elsewhere", or "This works as designed but doesn't suit my niche need" reviews you have to wade through are ridiculous.

  • Loss of smell, known as anosmia, has become one of the defining symptoms of COVID

    Anosmia is no longer one of the most common symptoms of Omicron.

    Nick Beauchamp, an assistant professor of political science at Northeastern University, charted the complaints for the top three Yankee Candles on Amazon. He tracked when the negative reviews began and how much those complaints increased per week.

    Why on earth would anyone limit themselves to one brand of candle on one platform? Do people not even bother to try and falsify their assumptions anymore?

    Even Beauchamp concedes the point his study should not be taken seriously.

  • There was a surge of such reviews before covid was first diagnosed back in 2019.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Junta ( 36770 )

      Still, both Beauchamp and Petrova have said that while this data seemed like evidence of a COVID surge, it shouldn't be treated like a scientific study.

      "I wouldn't take this too seriously," Beauchamp tweeted. "Even looking at percentages, there seems to be a seasonal surge in 'no smell' each winter."

      This is a bump that happens every holiday season and thus there's absolutely no reason to suggest this correlates to COVID specifically. It seems the guy plotted the reviews over time because he found it interesting and the world ran with 'OMG COVID!' despite he himself saying this specific thing happens every year.

  • or maybe the one QA guy whose job is to smell the candles.

    There is at least one sheep in Scotland, at least one side of which is black.

  • Evidenced by "a strong scent reminiscent of Christmas trees", this is a seasonal item.

    The person charting it even said as much:
    "I wouldn't take this too seriously," Beauchamp tweeted. "Even looking at percentages, there seems to be a seasonal surge in 'no smell' each winter."

    It's right there in the article, the last line admits this seems to happen every year, COVID or no COVID.

  • One of the characteristics of Omicron is that unlike Covid Classic, Alpha, and Delta, it doesn't cause anosmia. So this is either Delta (which has been surging in Yankee areas) or the candles really have no scent.

  • Saw a graph somewhere that showed this drop happens every year in the winter, just happens to be slightly higher this year. Apparently people catch regular colds and flus and don't connect that their congestion make their candles less effective. Could also be the rush of people buying candles for Christmas and people just never knew their sense of smell sucks naturally, or that they just don't like scented candles...

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