Life is short. Have an affair
Life is short. Have an affair.
That's the motto of an on-line dating site, Ashley Madison, which facilitates cheating. Like a typical on-line dating site, it's purpose is to help those looking for a partner to find one easily: the difference? These people are married and looking for someone willing to have an extramarital affair. Cheat.
Ashley Madison is so confident they can find you the right person to contribute to your infidelity that they have a 100% guarantee.
and Have An Affair...Guaranteed!
Until recently, I really had no idea a vehicle of this nature even existed. That was until the Toronto media went nuts with news of a potential ad for Ashley Madison which was to be displayed by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). TTC had allegedly accepted a deal to provide one street car to be wrapped head-to-toe with a purple ad stating - "LIFE IS SHORT. HAVE AN AFFAIR." - which would sprawl across the ENTIRE length of the train.
Images of the mock up can be seen at Torontoist.
Ashley Madison states that the ad had been accepted, while TTC says it had yet to be reviewed by their Advertising Review Committee and has now been rejected.
Maybe the TTC got cold feet when it came to actually going through with the ad? Or maybe it was rejected from the get-go. Regardless, it's a hot topic in Toronto now, and whether Ashley Madison wraps streetcar or not, the word is out. We're talking. People are up in arms that the site even exists in the first place, let alone that they are looking to target Toronto's commuters.
Me? I feel that an affair is not going to happen in spite of a wrapped streetcar or a website for the unfaithful, or wannabe unfaithful to find someone. Cheating has and will continue to happen regardless of a purple streetcar trolling the streets of Toronto.
The part that I do find disturbing? The fact that there are over 4.9 million people using this site as a means to find someone else. I don't believe the site is meant to help others find someone for a fling; it seems to be more for those longing to have that emotional and physical bond beyond a one-night-stand.
Who am I to say what you do with your life? We're not going to get into the sanctity of marriage or the immorality of having an affair. (Did I just get into it?) But what concerns me is the potential 4.9 MILLION people who are unhappy in their marriages and are looking for love outside their unity.
4.9 million and counting is the tally of users signed upon the site, it doesn't take into account, of course, the people who may just be curious to see what the site is all about and aren't in fact looking to cheat. I think. I was curious to sign up to get more information about how the site works, but then I got paranoid that someone I know is on there.
Divorce rates are high, yet there are still even more that are unhappy with whom they are married to? What does that say about us and our marriages? Are we marrying for the wrong reasons? Why are we falling out of love with those meant to be our life partners? Are we marrying too soon?
I will admit, Ashley Madison was a brilliant idea. Its founder, Noel Biderman, saw a market and capitalized on it. Kudos to him for that. But capitalizing on loose morals and infidelity? Meh.
No matter the reasons for one's use of the site, Toronto streetcars are not going to be promoting Ashley Madison any time soon. Though, I don't believe that will be hurting their market at all.
Samantha blogs at personal site, Temporarily Me and at Craftastrophe: because handmade isn't always pretty!
This is an original post to Canada Moms Blog.
{image from Orbitory}
