A 42-year-old woman from California’s Bay Area has taken an unconventional approach to finding love — by advertising for a husband on roadside billboards.
Lisa Catalano launched a series of digital billboards along Highway 101 between Santa Clara and South San Francisco to promote her personal dating website, MarryLisa.com. The campaign, which began in early September, has already attracted around 1,800 responses from potential suitors across a wide age range.
Catalano told People magazine that the idea began as a joke in June when she started designing her own dating application site out of frustration with online apps. “Every time I got frustrated with how the dating scene was, I’d spend another few minutes working on the site,” she said. “Eventually, it started to look like something real.”
The billboards feature a simple design — a photo of Catalano with the website’s name in large yellow letters on a black background. “I wanted something simple and eye-catching,” she explained, adding that she avoided using QR codes to keep it easy for commuters to remember.
Catalano’s website includes questions about applicants’ education, occupation, hobbies, and relationship goals. She says she’s looking for a committed, monogamous partner aged 35 to 45, who shares her religious and political values and hopes to start a family.
Her unusual campaign has sparked both admiration and criticism online. “People either love it or hate it,” Catalano said. “They think it’s either brave and creative or completely crazy — there’s no in-between.”
Catalano, who lost her fiancé to a terminal illness in 2023, said returning to the dating scene has been challenging. “It’s a strange process to try dating again after being in a long relationship,” she said. “I do think the apps can work, but they just haven’t worked for me.”
Despite the mixed reactions, Catalano remains optimistic. “I think there’s a guy out there who’s a perfect fit for me, and I’m a perfect fit for him,” she said. “We just haven’t connected yet — but his application might already be in my inbox.”
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