have an affair

Yesterday afternoon I was driving down Sunset near the comedy store, house of blues, and all those places. Stuck in traffic, I look up and this billboard caught my eye. It showed a man and a woman embracing like lovers, in the nude. The caption read, "have an affair" and below that was a website, ashleymadison.com.

I didn't think much of it until today, when during my job interview for AP my interviewer and I were discussing advertising and its effectiveness. She mentioned an ad for Wachovia that she spotted on Hollywood and Highland the other day, and how it was huge, imposing, and gaudy. I brought up the ad I saw on Sunset, and we pulled up the site together. Tell me why was the site a dating site for married people? Their slogan is, "When monogamy becomes monotony." What part of the game is that?

The first thing I thought when I saw the billboard was that it promoted a message of infidelity. Sure it's only one billboard and one ad, but such messages tend to infiltrate other areas of media, and like it or not, that's what shapes most people's perception of themselves and others. A billboard or website today can become the inspiration for a play or a show tomorrow, and it could very well end up a reality show the day after that. Like it or not, the bullshit that we read and see on TV and other media influences people and shapes their perceptions.

From an advertising standpoint, the billboard was effective. Shit, it caught my eye. I work in advertising. I'm supposed to be jaded against stuff like that. It was effective enough to make me bring it up in conversation to someone, and to sit here and write about on my blog. However, I think the message contained in the ad is questionable. The service that the company is providing seeks to capitalize on extramarital affairs. But, it could be argued that there's a market for that type of thing, and that it's only bringing to the forefront things that are already happening on the low anyway. Married people cheat all the time.

Technology makes it very easy to cheat. The site says that it has over a million registered members. This site and sites like it aren't making people cheat, but it's definitely enabling it. I guess you can't knock this company's hustle, but it's a hell of a hustle.