'Christians make better lovers' - dating site's new advertising campaign
UK dating site Christian Connection is launching a new ad campaign on the London Underground from January 13, with one poster featuring the tagline: "Christians make better lovers."
The campaign, which marks the first time a religious dating site has chosen to place adverts on the Underground, will run on Tube carriage panels across London.
Christian Connection hopes the campaign will encourage Christians who are searching for love to join the online community.
Approximately 1.4 million single Christians between the ages of 25 and 60 attend church monthly in the UK, and many of those are based in the London area.
Since launching in 2000, Christian Connection claims to have facilitated thousands of relationships and marriages, and was recently voted the best niche dating site of 2013.
The poster with the tagline "Christians make better lovers" is accompanied by the message that "Christians believe in love. 'Love one another' is written into their code. So if you are a single Christian, why not give our award winning dating site a try?"
Another poster says: "God knew you would see this. He knows that if you are Christian and single you would probably love a like-minded partner."
A third exclaims: "Another dating site? Thank God! No seriously".
The founder of Christian Connection, Jackie Elton, says she hopes the ads will make Christians and non-Christians alike "sit up and take notice".
"Until now we have relied on religious media and word of mouth, but we want to spread our wings and reach a wider range of Christians. They are out there – we want them to know we are here," she explains.
Chas Bayfield, creative director at Noah, the company which created the ads designed by graphics artist Alex Fowkes, has labelled them "a great opportunity not only to tell the world about Christian Connection, but to create something contemporary and relevant – not something many church organisations are known for!"
He himself attests to the merits of the dating site – he met his wife at a Christian Connection speed dating event 10 years ago.
Explaining the decision to "go underground", Ms Elton said: "Advertising in exclusively Christian media outlets can feel churchy and restrictive.
"It is easy to feel embarrassed about the way anything Christian is presented but as with our dating site, we want our ads to hold their own with the best in the secular world.
"We hope Christians will warm to the campaign," she concluded.