Tasteless Dating Site Exploits Dark Knight Massacre To Promote Their Service

Nothing is worse than a tragedy, like the Dark Knight Rises shootings, but inevitably, bad things pop up in such an event’s wake — such as the dating website trying to gain morbid attention through the massacre by tying in a question in a press release to the event that killed 12 people, including a child, and critically injured scores more.

Making money off a high profile tragedy is ugly, but it happens — and dating site WhatsYourPrice.com is probably not a surprising candidate for capitalizing on the murders in Aurora. Yes, the dating site is one with a (not-too-uncommonly of dating sites) misogynist twist.

You know that old joke about offering a woman $1,000 to sleep with her, then $10 and when she asks what you think she is, saying “my dear, we’ve already established that, now we’re just settling on a price?” Whatsyourprice.com, the site capitalizing on the Aurora shootings, is in the genre of sites that purport to match women who seek wealth up with men willing to pay for looks or beauty, allowing men to bid on women for dates.

So it’s probably no shock that a site that has no problem commoditizing women also has no problem commoditizing recent and real human suffering.

The blog Death and Taxes has a doozy of an email pitch from the site, however, proposing, essentially, that high-earners are more likely to “take a bullet” for women than their retail-working or burger-flipping counterparts. Putting aside the arguably dated concept than males should “take bullets” for females, it should be noted that four young men indeed lost their lives in the Aurora shooting doing just that.

Their bravery, gender notwithstanding, moved much of America after the horrifying incident — but it’s disgusting to think of making money off the deaths of four very young, very promising young men who, during a single moment of crisis, sacrificed their lives to protect people they loved and cared about.

Below is the full text of the email sent by WhatsYourPrice.com attempting to profit off the Aurora tragedy — is this the sleaziest dating site gimmick yet?

“In the event of a tragedy like the Dark Knight Massacre, who would you want by your side on a first date? One online dating website asked their members what they would do on a first date if they found themselves in danger, and the answer may surprise you. If you are holding out for a hero, dating someone who is generous, but not necessarily wealthy, may be the difference between life and death.

“During the Dark Knight Massacre, three men lost their lives to save the lives of their girlfriends. But what if you were on a first date, and you had only just met? How do you differentiate the courageous from the cowardly? According to the results of the survey of over 20,000 generous male members, it’s by generosity, but a man’s generosity is not defined by the size of his wallet. In fact, men who make between $80,000 to $150,000 per year are more likely to take a bullet for you on a first date.Those who fall outside of that income bracket, are significantly less likely to put their well being over that of their date’s, on a first date.

“WhatsYourPrice.com is the first online dating website where generous members can bid on a first date with an attractive member. The website launched in April 2011 and currently has over 400,000 members worldwide. “Our website is known for generous men bidding for the chance to spoil and pamper women on a first date,” says Founder & CEO, [redacted]. “Not only are they generous, but most of the men who use our website are also gentlemen. A gentleman opens doors, pulls out chairs, and puts their well being above that of their date, even in the line of fire.”

“I have attached the press release for your review, and the full study is available by request. To schedule an interview with Founder & CEO, [redacted], please send an email to [redacted] or call [redacted].”