"I hear you have taken a number of biology courses," said the supervisor, addressing his youngest summer intern.
"Yes, I took a few," was the reply from Mike. Mike had hoped to use his knowledge of biology in his intern position. He had been asked to work in the marketing department at the offices of the company that made Generic Viagra.
"Well," said the supervisor. "I want you to read this article." The supervisor gave Mike an issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior. Mike could see that his supervisor had made clear which article should be read by the company’s new summer intern.
"This article is about a product called ‘Athena Pheromone 10X,’" said the supervisor. "I want you to read about the results of a recent study done with that agent. I want to know if the men who used that 10X look like the sort of men who might choose to participate in a clinical trial of a modified Generic Viagra."
"I will get reading right now," said Mike.
Mike did not tell his supervisor that he had already read one article about the product called 10X. That had been an article in a Wired Magazine. Mike knew what he could expect to find in the Archives. Mike was eager to share that information with his supervisor.
Mike placed the Archives in his briefcase. Mike then locked his briefcase, something he seldom bothered to do. Mike wanted to guard against the possibility that the information in the Archives might reach the desk of an executive in the marketing department for Generic Cialis.
Mike knew that men who used 10X had much better luck catching the interest of a lovely girl. Mike knew that such luck often led to an evening of love-making. Mike suspected that men who used 10X would be ideal subjects for a clinical trial of a modified Generic Viagra. Mike did not want the name Athena Pheromone 10X to become a familiar name to the executives who were intent on marketing Generic Cialis.
That night Mike perused the article he had been given by his supervisor. After that Mike sketched the outline for a memo to his supervisor. Mike wanted to summarize for his supervisor the important facts from the Archives article.
Mike made a rough sketch of the graph in the article. Later Mike tried to duplicate that graph by using Excel on his computer. The graph said more than the numbers. It could help Mike’s supervisor to focus on one important fact—men using 10X could snare a woman 75% more frequently than a man who failed to use 10X.
Mike knew that his supervisor would want to read any suggestion that Mike might have, after reading the Archives article. Mike did have one important suggestion. He put that suggestion at the bottom of the rough draft of a memo.
What was Mike’s suggestion? It was this: "Be sure not to share this information with the executives who are trying to market Generic Cialis."
