Norway’s consumer ombud is investigating the legality of a dating service that urges young female students to date older affluent men, suggesting the practice can free them of student loans. The implication is that the men would take them shopping, out to eat or traveling.
State broadcaster NRK reported that the dating service has been advertising on radio, via a video on social media and, most recently, via a large billboard that’s been towed around Oslo. An Oslo politician for the Christian Democrats, Erik Lunde, is calling the dating ad campaign “sad, cynical and degrading” and wants it stopped.
Elisabeth Lier Haugseth, the local consumer ombud, is already evaluating whether the ad campaign violates Norway’s prohibition against sexually discriminating advertising and unethical marketing. She expected she’d be sending a warning letter to the company within a few days.
newsinenglish.no staff
