Ten singles are advertising themselves on billboards across the country in an effort to find true love.
The billboards are part of the Life Rules campaign, the brainchild of frustrated singleton Bea Obradovic, 40, who decided she needed to take drastic action to find Mr Right.
“I felt it was time to really do something that was really out there and something which would get the public’s attention.” She said “If you’re prepared to put yourself up on a billboard, you must be serious because no body would go to that trouble if they’re only looking for one night stands and casual flings.”
The self-funded campaign will display the single’s photos around major cities in NSW, QLD and VIC until the 26th of October. With the average suburban railway billboard ad costing just under $2000 and major locations going for over $25,000, the cost of finding the perfect partner is very dear.
“The billboards themselves were the most expensive part of this particular project, however saying that there is also the website that was involved; there’s also the PR, also the cost of flying all of the singles into Sydney, doing the photo shoot and things like that so it all adds up to quite a bit of money.” Bea said.
Bea hopes that the campaign will also highlight the social stigma that is sometimes attached to both single men and women.
“There is still a stigma attached to internet dating but there is also a stigma attached to being single and admitting you don’t want to spend your life on your own, then you are almost made to feel embarrassed I guess or ashamed in some way to admit that” She said.
Internet dating, along with dating agencies, clubs, pubs, bars and friends are all popular ways to meet prospective partners; however fear of rejection and learned social behaviour stop many of us from striking up a conversation.
“As kids we grow up being told not to talk to strangers and we basically take that into adulthood, so it’s very rare that a perfect stranger will come up and have a chat to you” Bea said.
It is in this area that the popular ‘husband wanted’ and ‘wife wanted’ t-shirts have made a bigger impact than the billboards. Over past year Bea has had women asking her where they can get one and men wanting to know if the slogan’s true.
“Whenever I wear these tops, always, without fail, somebody comes up and starts a conversation and that’s what it’s all about. It’s all about meeting and communicating with people. If you don’t make yourself available, don’t market yourself how is anybody supposed to know that you are there?” She asked.
Although she thinks it’s a brave idea, Social Worker Claire Rowe* says “Personally, I’m not a fan of meeting people based on if they look hot in a photo. I think that you shouldn’t always judge a book by its cover because you may be unpleasantly surprised.”
Other opponents criticize the $15 fee required to contact a single via the website. Sending your favourite single a gift also costs $10.
Bea said “Obviously the whole idea is to make the money because there are expenses that need to be covered, but that wasn’t the goal for me.”
If successful, Bea says she would consider turning the idea into a business. Ironically, her hectic schedule has so far prevented her from checking her responses.
“Ideally, all ten of us would like to find the perfect party but is that realistic? Who knows? Only time will tell whether that is an actual possibility, and unless you actually do it, you don’t know.” She said
Sadly, a party planned for the singles on Friday 24th of October at the end of the campaign has been postphoned until further notice due to unforseen circumstances.
“At the end of the day we all basically spend our life looking for the same thing, it’s just that some are lucky enough to find it earlier on and some spend their whole lives looking for it and never find it. As human beings we want companionship, it’s our nature to try and find a mate and I don’t understand why people want to make others feel uncomfortable by admitting that they don’t want to spend their life on their own” She said.
Anyone wishing to contact the singles, send them a gift or view their profiles can do so at www.wifewanted.com.au or www.husbandwanted.com.au
*Name has been changed
