【the ascendence of eroticism】

Astrology may be the ascendence of eroticismhundreds of thousands years old, but it's been booming in recent years. Whatever the reason — millennials' search for meaning, late capitalism seeping its way into every crevice of society — the practice has been translated into an abundance of meme accounts and apps and even bars.

Bouncing off the astrology inundation, professional prankster group MSCHF (yes, "mischief" without the vowels like a Fall Out Boy song) created a fake "astrology stock" app, cutely named Bull & Moon.

As The Verge reported last month, MSCHF took cues from popular astrology apps Co — Star and The Pattern in Bull & Moon's design. The app promises that you simply input your birthday and the app will present you stock matches based on the stars.

"Bull & Moon is the first app that gives personalized stock recommendations based on astrological compatibility," according to its App Store description. "Your birthday and publicly traded companies’ birthdays (better known as their founding date). But the question remains, can an astrology-based investment strategy outperform the market?"

Considering its slick design and the "moment" astrology is having, it's a great prank. As MSCHF is also behind the viral Jesus Shoes, we shouldn't expect anything less.

Except, as it happens on the internet, a lot of people don't know it's a prank.

Bull & Moon went viral on Twitter when it was shared, without any context that it's a prank, on November 11.

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The tweet has over 50,000 retweets and 100,000 likes at the time of publication, and from a quick Twitter search, many are still taking this app seriously. I, a fan of astrology but someone who will never mix the study with my finances, retweeted it myself when I first saw it. But those wringing their hands that the internet's love of astrology has gone "too far" can rest easy.

According to their website, MSCHF's next prank drops November 26. Maybe the internet will get wise this time.