Let us begin with the facts. Eroda is not a real place. It is not a country, it is not a city. Sure, there is Erode in Tamil Nadu, India. But ask Google, check a map: there is no such place as “Eroda”.

Yet, ever since Thursday, November 21st, 2019, many Internet users started seeing advertisements pop up on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, and even Spotify, inviting them to go visit the island of Eroda. “No land quite like it”, say the ads, while pointing to one website: visiteroda.com.

And so, people visited Eroda, or at least its website. Like Austin, 24, who is one of the first people who took this discovery to Twitter. “At first I was trying to figure out where the place was, and when I couldn’t find any information, I started worrying that it might be some kind of scam.” But then on the site, there are no actual booking options for anything, no links leading to another site where you have to pay. And the only ads showing are for Eroda, and send back to the homepage. So this surely cannot be about earning money, he figured. Quite the contrary, promoting ads on social media actually costs. But who would pay money to advertise a place that does not exist?

A screenshot from visiteroda.com

The website, despite the 2004 mention at the very bottom of the page, was actually created on October 28th, 2019. And although the aesthetic efforts to mimic what sites looked like in the 2000s deserve mention, what is most interesting is the content. From page to page, Visit Eroda presents us with descriptions of this island, without any mention of its actual location. There is a map included, but it does not have any useful indication.

The map presented on visiteroda.com

On November 21st, as he scours the website, intrigued by cryptic sentences such as “Avoid leaving Eroda on odd numbered days…” , Austin decides to chronicle his research on Twitter. Other users soon chime in, either reacting or joining the hunt. On Reddit, too, Eroda has been gathering people trying to solve the mystery of this non-existent island… who, yet, not only has a website, but also active social media accounts. To this day, Visit Eroda has more than 17 800 followers on Twitter, 4 400 on Instagram and 930 likes on Facebook, and shares posts on a daily basis. 

Throughout the efforts to figure out who is behind what is most likely a promo stunt, two main theories emerge at first. Some people think it might be publicity for World of Warcraft; others believe it to be for another video game, Adore (an anagram for Eroda). But the visuals do not necessarily match and doubts remain. Then one more theory is brought to attention.

The Harry Styles Twist

Let us go back to the facts. Eroda is not a real place. There is either a publicity operation going on toying with the idea of this fake island, or just someone who has a lot of money and wants to play with whoever is willing to take part in this mystery game. Or maybe both.

More facts. Harry Styles is a singer-songwriter. He has a second album coming out on December 13th, 2019. He has teased his first single, back in October, through mysterious posters (and a tweet). He might be the man behind Eroda.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5NyyxCJ8ma/

The Visit Eroda website might be filled with stock images, easy to find on the Internet, the visuals of the video looked familiar to some Harry Styles fans, as soon as they saw them. In August 2019, the British singer had been spotted filming in St Abbs, a small fishing village in Scotland. The landscape draws a resemblance and the importance the fictitious island gives to fish (starting with its logo) might also be a clue. And then more details seemed to make sense.

In the “Attractions” page, one of the descriptions reads “the corner of Cherry Street and Golden Way”, which could be references to two tracks from Styles’ upcoming album (Cherry and Golden). The Eroda anagram still works, as there is a song on the record titled Adore You.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5Dp2OkndLw/

Other little things seemed to link back somehow to the singer, be it the number 13 or the mention of hairstyles being a “bold expression of self”, reminding fans once again of the summer video shoot. But the most compelling argument to have been made comes from one Facebook user who went back to the route of it all: the ads. 

A screenshot of the find made by Twitter user @ryannoyance

He checked why he was targeted by the Eroda advertisement and it turns out it is because he “may have visited” Harry Styles’ official website. How does Facebook know that? Through a tool called Facebook Pixel that allows sites to monitor their ads. And here, according to that screenshot, hstyles.co.uk is the website, and Visit Eroda the ad. “That coupled with all the other clues seems like a pretty strong case to me”, says Austin, agreeing with many others.

As they wait for an official confirmation that may never come, fans of Styles (also known as “Harries”) seem to be, all in all, enjoying the ride, however stressed some seem to get. Maybe the fun of it, for whoever is behind this, is the mystery after all.