FROM THE WEB: ‘Carrot Dating’s ‘bribes’-for-dates model shows mastery of the art of attention seeking’ – Wired

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Wired have a great piece on Brandon Wade, the controversial dating site owner responsible for such media-baiting brands as Carrot Dating, SeekingArrangement and WhatsYourPrice.

When Carrot Dating, the site where men can bribe women for dates, was released it was called disgusting, crass and likened to prostitution by the media.

Wired talk to Wade about whether his brands are created with a purposefully provocative marketing strategy.

When asked if they set out with this in mind, Wade says:

“Yes. We do. 

“But one of the things we noticed was that every time we were discussed as part of a controversial topic in the media and there was a lot of backlash, the numbers would keep on going up.”

He states that marketing and PR makes up around 40% of their team.

And yet Wired asks the question of whether this sort of shock tactic is a long-term strategy in business.

“Using a shock-based PR strategy will work to get coverage in the Daily Mail but it might end up costing the business in terms of long-term social circulation,” says Matt Locke from Storythings.

Read the very entertaining piece here.