I recently stumbled upon this link in my facebook feed which led to me to an nauseatingly cute website (can you feel a tinge of sinister?). It's an extremely dynamic single page site which compares the life of two lovers in column format, and ends with a place for you to rsvp to their wedding with the password they've provided you. By you I don't actually mean you, i mean their friends. (This would be so much easier for you if you just clicked on that link and saw for yourself.)
The story of Jess & Russ is something that has the potential to be a viral link. It's real life Disney for grown-ups... It's friggin adorable. But WAIT- while you where looking at all the pretty pictures and skipping over the insignificant dates which highlighted dressing in penguin suits and celebrating Obama's victory in Kansas, did you notice the significant event that took place September 2008 on each of their time lines? Probably not.
They both signed up to match.com. Now here comes my inevitable skepticism. Did this couple really meet on match.com, and decide to come up with an economical way to handle wedding invitations (I'll save my rant about the postal system for another day) Or is this undercover marketing?
Given the personality of the content, I'm am going to assume Jess & Russ are real people who were lucky enough to find their other half. Has match.com realized the potential that this couple has laid down for them? They couldn't get more REAL than this. This is what you call free advertising. With any luck, the site will hit the mainstream media, Match will buy their story and the wedding will be paid for! Ya I know, not likely.
In fact speaking of Disney, does anyone else remember that viral video where the little girl bursts into tears of joy when her mom breaks the news about the trip their about to take? She lost her sugar. (Yes, the PG way to say lost her s***) In the video, she's opening a back pack which is stuffed with licensed Disney merchandise, and then has a heart-melting reaction to the travel news. The video when viral, and Disney didn't have to do a thing.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is; Jess & Russ- if you're real, congratulations and all the best for the future. Also, your friends are some mighty talented artists. If they aren't real, congrats to the guy whose gonna get a pay raise and a corner office out of this.
5 bucks says you're going to register for a dating site within the next half hour after having read this. Just saying.