A mobile phone store chain in Georgia is experiencing a boost in iPhone sales after arranging for a priest to bless the entire Apple stock at one of their stores in Tbilisi. According to iPhone+ store manager Georgiy Machavariani, the holy ceremony has mollified fears and concerns that people have about iPhones being the “device of the devil”.

“We have a lot of customers that restrain from buying an iPhone for the sole reason that it is a so-called device of a devil,” he said. “In order to tackle this concern, we decided to sanctify our shop and have the phones blessed.” I guess the fear he is referring to has to do with the Apple logo, which people are probably associating with the forbidden fruit eaten by Adam and Eve.

The shop’s management recorded and released footage that shows a priest spreading holy water around the place and then blessing their entire inventory of iPhones. The strange move seems to have had a calming effect on local residents, who are now coming in droves to buy the blessed phones.

“I am pleased to hear that the shop’s management has finally decided to sanctify its property,” said Anna Aslanishvilli, one of the first to buy a consecrated iPhone. In fact, the response has been so positive that the shop plans to invite the priest to bless future iPhone stocks. 

News of this controversial event quickly went viral with the video released by the mobile phone retailer getting tens of thousands of views. Contacted by the media, the priest who conducted the blessing said that his holy act has been used as a marketing stunt by iPhone+ and that he had actually blessed the shop itself and the employees, not the mobile phones. He told Georgian news site Info9 that if he had known the purpose of the video from the beginning, he would not have allowed the ceremony to be video-recorded.

Source: Korrespondent