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 AshleyMadison.com, a website that actively encourages adultery, says it has a deal with the TTC to wrap a streetcar in promotional material. (Photo courtesy of Ashley Madison) |
TORONTO -- Talk about a streetcar named desire.
AshleyMadison.com, a website that actively encourages adultery, says it has inked an advertising deal with the Toronto Transit Commission to wrap a streetcar in promotional material starting Jan. 2.
But TTC officials said it's not a done deal yet and staff are recommending the commission doesn't get into bed with the controversial site.
If approved by the six city councillors on the advertising review committee today, TTC fares may not be the only thing going up in the new year.
Some riders' eyebrows could also be raised when they see one of the city's iconic streetcars swathed in purple with the phrase, "Life is short. Have an affair."
The test trolley won't be lonely for long.
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If the ads test well, the sinful site wants to brand 10 streetcars by February, Happy Valentine's Day indeed. Ashley Madison said the deal amounts to a $200,000 media buy.
"We read about the impending fare hike and we thought what if we could circumvent or prevent this fare hike by creating an affair campaign," Ashley Madison CEO Noel Biderman told the Sun yesterday.
While he doubts the extra cash will help keep fares from stepping up, Biderman said he was told they had approval for the ad campaign that promotes stepping out.
"We're going to put this train out there ... and people are going to get frustrated but the TTC has to tell them the reality which is advertising helps supports the foundation and the funding of this public service," he said.
"Ashley Madison has a total right to exist and advertise like everybody else.
"You can sit there and claim immorality all you want but who is defining morality in this day and age? We're a society based on tolerance."
Despite Ashley Madison's insistence it was a done deal, TTC spokesman Brad Ross said the ad campaign is still under review and staff recommendation to the six-councillor committee is that the ads stay off the Better Way.
"We just don't think the ad is appropriate to be running on a streetcar on the streets of Toronto," Ross said, adding a decision is expected today.
If your marriage isn't off the rails, you probably don't know Ashley Madison is an online dating site that allows married people to hook-up online for discreet affairs.
Hogtown homegrown, the site has 4.6 million members worldwide and Toronto is one of its fastest growing cities.
Ashley Madison is no stranger to being jilted.
Earlier this year, CTV sacked the company's Super Bowl commercial stating it doesn't want an ad "promoting adultery" running alongside "quality brands" in its advertising roster for the big game.