I Wonder What Happened to Antoine Deblay

I haven’t cleaned out my emails in years. My inbox has thousands of emails going all the way back to 2012. I have a habit of finding interesting articles on my phone or tablet and emailing them to my computer to look at later — in this case much later.

In December 2013, I sent myself a link to a Business Insider article about a French student who made a big profit selling tins of air from his village.

Montcuq is a small village in the south of France. It has a castle, an artificial lake, and an Office de Tourisme.

This is surprising — considering it has a population that would fit into an average-sized Travelodge.

Montcuq is set in the Midi-Pyrenees in the heart of the Quercy Blanc region and is undoubtedly a picturesque setting. The town circles around a natural butt in the earth with a castle at its centre. It is surrounded by rich agricultural land and the economy is supported by it being a tourist destination.

This is an aerial view of Montcuq village:

It is a vibrant and charming spot to soak up the sun, to drink wine — or to set up a business selling air. This is what 22-year-old local student Antoine Deblay proposed to do during his summer holidays in 2013.

Antoine put his idea onto the French crowdfunding site KissKissBankBank and, to his amazement, raised enough money to set up a website, design a label for his packaging, et voila Air de Montcuq was born.

Money might not grow on trees and there might not be such a thing as a free lunch, but what went into this tin was plucked from fresh air.

It was a bold idea. Antoine would only make money if he could hype up the idea, for that he needed publicity. And he got it.

The French press picked up on it and soon the world was reading about Antoine’s entrepreneurial venture. The Times reported on it as 'Weird but Wonderful,' and Oddity Central mused, “Apparently, people will pay for anything as long as it’s packaged well — even a can full of nothing.”

Word got out and in the ensuing commotion, orders came in. Antoine sold 1000 tins in the first three weeks.

Business Insider explained his success.

“You see, in France, the name Montcuq is frequently mispronounced as “mon cul,” which translates to English as “my ass.” So, “Air de Montcuq” roughly translates as “the wind of my ass.” You can imagine why that amuses people.”

The Connexion (French news and views) reported, “Farts selling well from Montcuq.”

Social Media site Pinterest thought the tin “quirky” and “cool”.

Antoine’s marketing was a hit. He sold his “fresh air of Montcuq” as 100% organic. As a way to immerse yourself in the depths of his village, to refresh your ideas, and as a source of creative inspiration. And he played on its limited supply. His website warns:

“In order not to empty Montcuq of its air, each week we limit our harvest to 10 liters of air.”

Whatever happened to Antoine Deblay?

His website is still visible but it doesn’t appear to have been updated since 2014. Maybe the idea went flat? I tried to purchase a tin, but the link went to a blank screen.

His product, with its 60% profit margin, would appear to have been short-lived. A novelty. We can all be interested in the new, amused by the strange, or intrigued by things to which we are unaccustomed. This soon wears off.

It happens every year with children clamouring for the latest hyped toys. Remember Cabbage Patch Kids, Tamagotchis or Fidget Spinners? They were all the ‘in’ thing but at least they are still selling some. It appears Air de Montcuq passed its sell-by-date.

That’s not to say it wasn’t a good idea. Antoine must have learned a great deal from the process. Although on a small scale, he came up with an idea, designed a product, sought funding, went into production, marketed the product on a budget, and made some money.

Surely an imaginative guy like Antoine went on to greater things? I imagined he’d be working on big marketing projects by now or running a multimillion-dollar enterprise somewhere. I tried to find out.

Air de Montcuq has a Twitter account but it hasn’t been updated since July 2014. Antoine Deblay is on Twitter too, but he hasn’t posted anything since November 2013.

I searched for Antoine on LinkedIn and this drew a blank, or should I say blanc? I found him on Facebook but his last entry was an update to his profile picture in August 2015.

I wonder what happened to Antoine Deblay?

The power of the internet

I asked the question on Quora and got an answer. Antoine has a vintage store in Toulouse and is apparently doing quite well.

My question was answered but I am still curious. Why has he disappeared from social media? Where has his joie de vivre gone? What dissuaded him from using his ingenuity once more?

Has something happened to Antoine that he failed to live up to his marketing potential or is he more of a success because he is happy doing what he is doing?