Life is Short, Have an Affair - Billboard Controversy

by ABC2 News | September 28, 2007 at 07:50 am
33046 views | 3 Recommendations | 13 comments

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Life is Short, Have an Affair - Billboard Controversy

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A billboard is the talk of the town in West Hollywood. It reads Life is Short, have an affair. People who live there say it sends a bad message and they want it torn down.


It's an advertisment for the dating website, ashleymadison.com. The company's owner says people who cheat will do it with or without her billboard.


You can hear what people are saying about the advetisment here.

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gryphon
gryphon
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:48 on September 28th, 2007

Excellent website.  Thanks for the tip!

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lotsayaoi

I actually saw a commercial on TV about this website, and I could not believe what I was seeing.  What kind of sick person decides to make their living from destroying people's marriages? o.O 

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Stygia Dragynknight

I'm with lotsayaoi...it's outrageous that these people are profiting at the expense of others...especially children who become collateral damage in a broken family. This may sound  harsh, but these people need to be held responsible for the devastation they are encouraging and enabling. The lame-duck excuse "hey, people are going to have affairs anyway" is just that... lame. They are encouraging people to go out and have an affair and suggesting that they are missing out on something. IMHO, they're opening themselves up to lawsuits brought by wronged spouses. Remember Joe Camel? He supposedly encouraged people to smoke...so why wouldn't the same principle apply here? Especially since they are blatantly coming right out and saying it with words! I'm not a prude...far from it, but I have to wonder where we, as a society, are going to draw the line with our tolerance of such morally bankrupt shamelessness.

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gl3nk

Shut it down.

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Just a Woman

Actually, this is part of the reason why I'm still in my relationship. I don't get any sex from my partner, but instead of leaving him (since I don't believe relationships should be based on sex) I just fool around a little and then it's all fine.

Dating sites are already offering this service, only they are more sneaky about it.


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DanSavageFan

Yeah, you guys are trying to close the barn doors after the horses have left. This isn't "some evil company profiting from the suffering of others and the destruction of the lives of children," you guys sound like the Yes On 8 campaign, or those that say marijuana is gateway drug. If people want to indulge in hedonistic activity, whatever it may be, obstructing the behavior does not reduce the likelihood of it being acted out. I'm with Just A Woman, that a service like this probably saves more marriages than it destroys. It bet that 90% of the marriages were already destroyed before the patrons of this site found it. And to counter the 10%, there are a lot of marriages where couples stay together for practical reasons, kids, economics, emotions, even though their sex lives are over, in which outside sexual activity is the only thing that allows the marriage to remain intact. Read or listen to more Dan Savage people. I liken this service to something like a clean needle exchange, we wish it didn't have to exist, but we have to be pragmatic an recognize that people are going to do what they want to, and setting up a safer more risk free environment for them to conduct frowned upon behavior is better than pretending that prohibition works.

And I'm sorry but "shut it down?" this is America, not Iran, you can't just shut someones business down because you don't like it. Was that just a knee jerk emotional response or did you actually mean something by that?? Just what authority would you have handle that, the Ministry of Vice and Virtue?


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ERICA TOOT

SICKOS

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BLufinki

Its not a matter of the right to have a business, its a matter of morality...we all know that ever since humans were created there are things that are going to happen "under the table" and that we dont need to advertise them for it to happen or not...but that does NOT give anyone the right to incite these activities like its no big deal. You dont see any commercials about where to get more drugs or weed...do you?? Want to know why???...because IT IS ILLEGAL, IT IS WRONG and BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH...well guess what? cheating is also borderline ILLEGAL, WRONG and to add to it, it is IMMORAL, DISGUSTING and CRUEL to the feelings of another human being and to the concept of marriage and family. If you want to be with other people GET A DIVORCE, dont be a cheater, backstabber, lying S.O.B.  That company should be closed or at least should not be allowed to advertise on national TV, it's embarrasing to know that this country allows things like this.

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DLo

Wow, I can't believe that a society that claims to be based on God and ethics can really accept something as grotesque as a web site promoting affairs. When I was younger, my mother would ask me, "So everyone else is doing it? Does that mean you have to do it also?" I would think that people would actually see what is wrong with someone saying "Go ahead, just follow anything." Yes, without this billboard, people would still cheat. However, this just shows that our beliefs, ethics, expectations, a loyalties have long been non-existant. People across the world steal, kill, cheat, lie, and many other things. I did not know that this was the only criteria needed to get away with certain acts. If a gang of hoodlums went to a neighborhood and stole an expensive item, but they all did it at the same time, would it be ok? Everyone in their group was doing it, it should be just fine. How far have we actually fallen?

Regardless of what anyone on here says, when you say "I Do" you are making a convenant. The oath that you are taking is not just for the person you are marrying and it's definately not for those witnessing the event. It's also a promise that you are making to God. You are saying "You gave something dear to me and I will cherish it always. Until I die this will be my other half." That is something that strikes me as truely appaling in our country. As for those "hooraying" affairs, how would you react if you actually fell in love with someone and found out that everything that was presented to you was a lie. I say "actually fell in love" because you would never do something that would break down or ruin someone that you loved. A normal, sensible person would never think of stabbing themselves in the heart. When you marry someone they become a part of your life, your thought process, your breath, you. When you fall for someone you wake up thinking of them and fall asleep with them on your mind. Yes, it is a childish infatuation at first, but during that infatuation they are the only person you think of, want, crave. What happens to that? What makes a person cheat? No, a relationship should no be based on sex but it should not be based on lies either.

Of all the things that hurt the most, when I found out about my husbands infidelity I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I am in no way a weak person. I never have considered myself to be the type to be a dependent soul. But I gave myself to my husband. I gave him all of me, not just a piece. I gave my entire heart, my body, my love and affection, my loyalty, all of me. The only thing he couldn't have was my soul, that has and always will belong to God. But I gave to Cesaer what belonged to Cesaer. I was in love with my husband. Every piece of me craved for every piece of him. I would have never done anything to hurt him. I would have never done anything to lose him. Our marriage was not, from my view, based on sex or any fleeting feeling. Our marriage was not, again from my view, based on lies or deception. And what I gave him shattered when I found out he had not been faithful during all of my efforts to have an actual marriage.

Yes, my husband did cheat on me. But, had this been something accepted by society, he would never have felt the need to hide it. If affairs were just "something else married people do" no one would feel the need to keep it secret or feel regret for it afterwards. For years, women across the world have fought to have the right to be the only ones included in the marriages. How many women have shaken their heads when they have seen movies or shows depicting a man having an affair and a woman destroyed in the wake? Why is it ok all of a sudden. This is wrong and we have lost our values if we just turn our heads to it and say everything is fine. The funny thing is, I bet that over half the people commenting for the billboard, the website, and the excuses for these things will claim to be Christians of some sort. I wonder what Christ would think if he walked the streets of America today. Freedom of Speech has been used wrongly. Here I am fighting for such freedoms while people daily find ways to spit on them and/or abuse them. I am greatly disappointed. I love the U.S I would never trade her for any country. But I am saddened when we have come to far and then close our eyes while a mockery of "freedoms" is considered ok just because "everyone is doing it already." If sleeping around is the thing to do, then marriage is not. It is better to never make a vow then to make a vow and break it. You have taken an oath. You have basically broken a contract. For those that say it is okay to cheat, I feel sorry for those in your life. You will get back what you give. In that case, I feel sorry for you also.

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Fernando NewBeginnings

Welcome to Fernandos New Beginnings (they seriously ripped off Grand Theft Auto San Andreas)

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dyoc

What I hate the most, is that crap like this goes up, yet people still try to say that us gays are killing marriage.

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meems

ugh, just because SOME people have managed to cheat on their spouses, without being discovered, does NOT make it OK.  It is wrong on so many levels I don't know where to start.  First of all, if you cheat, you are being DISHONEST and CRUEL to your partner.  I hope that the people here who say, "that's why I'm still in my relationship, because I fool around." get discovered and find out the true heartbreak behind the dishonesty. 

If you want an open relationship, be honest and talk to your partner because maybe that's what they want too.  After all, you should be on equal grounds (and I'm betting YOU don't like that idea, that your partner can go out and get 'some' too)

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LAdies man

Bring on the byatches. Where has this billboard been all my marriage.

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First Flagged at 8:48 AM, Sep 28, 2007 by gryphon
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