Extra-marital affairs website Ashley Maddison is attempting to recover its reputation from the toilet, after its entire customer database was hacked and leaked online in 2015.
This event, while fucked in and of itself, exposed two things: that those who believed Ashley Maddison would keep their details safe were wrong, and that contrary to what they promoted, most of the user base was male. The CEO of parent company Avid Life Media resigned, and police linked the leak to at least two suicides.
Regardless to say, new CEO Rob Segal decided the best bet was a rebrand, describing is as “crucial” to the company’s future (no shit). “We are hoping the rebrand may be appealing to others who have never had an interest in Ashley Madison in the past,” he told TechCrunch.
Ashley Madison 2.0 (our words, not theirs; the decided to keep the name in favour of brand recognition) is aiming to attract a broader set of people (i.e. women) and appeal to a wider range of sexual desires (i.e. not just cheating husbands).
This is evident in their brand new TV ads, a first for the company. One features a screamingly depressing couple where the woman ends up locking eyes with a silver-haired fox in the hotel lobby. One features a probably depressed dude whose only highlight is staring down a blonde on the subway. And the third features a couple bored shitless of each other but rediscover that ~spark~ in the waitress’ cleavage.
Oh yeah – and they share a soundtrack with every single romantic comedy showing this Christmas. Watch them below.
In addition to the rebrand, the company has changed its name from Avid Life Media to ‘ruby‘ – “reflective, multi-faceted, valuable,” Segal said – and upping security, with Deloitte taking charge of its cybersecurity and 24/7 monitoring.
“It’s going to take a lot of work,” Segal told Mashable. “This is the start of a journey. We feel like we’re setting the right tone here, but we’re hoping to build trust in the long term.”
Source: TechCrunch / Mashable.
Photo: Ashley Madison.
