May 25, 2013

"The founder of Ashleymadison.com said new registrations surged a whopping 230% this week after millions watched..."

"... how a frustrated Marge Simpson stumbled onto an Ashley Madison-type website and then toyed with the idea of pursuing an extramarital affair on the eve of her wedding anniversary."
"When we see an anomalous spike we try and identify where it came from: was it marketing, media coverage or something else? We looked at what was on TV at that moment and it seemed to us to be very attributable to “The Simpsons,’” he said.

23 comments:

William said...

I do not lead my life according to What Would Homer Simpson Do. Honest.

Ann Althouse said...

It wasn't Homer. It was Marge.

Chip S. said...

I think they could've done better than "Sassymadison".

Sketchymadison. Trasheymadison.

I'd've gone w/ Scratchymadison myself.

Michael Haz said...

Thank goodness Marge didn't hook up with a 14 year old.

YoungHegelian said...

I bet Marge's profile name is L'OutreBouvier.

Jay Vogt said...

I can't recall where I've heard them (maybe on an obscure XM channel), but they have the smarmiest ads ever produced.

chuck said...

Ah, and the sewage people used to identify the 'Carson spike` after the first commercial break. We are herd animals, yes we are, baa, baa, baa.

edutcher said...

The outlook required to watch The Simpsons isn't that far removed from the one required for Beavis and Butthead.

edutcher said...

PS I thought another article said it was 430%.

You don't think they could be fibbing?

Chip Ahoy said...

The unstated ridiculousness drawn in the background is hilarious. I mention a few things that I noticed, such as Homer buying a gun from Bloodbath and Beyond, and then it returns months later in conversation, because it is so piquant that it lodges even to people who hadn't seen the episode, just heard of it.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I haven't watched new episodes of the Simpsons in years, so I can't speak to its recent quality. But I have large portions of the first ten years committed to memory. This territory was already covered when a bored Marge took bowling lessons, way back when....

"...it's not quite breakfast, it's not quite lunch, but it comes with a slice of cantaloupe at the end."

People probably registered at that foul site out of curiosity more than any actual desire to pursue an affair. In my experience people who cheat know how to find their jollies without helpful recommendations from the Simpsons.

Bender said...

It was sometime before the Simpsons movie came out that watching the show just kind of fell by the wayside. It had lost its funny.

That and I'm still annoyed at that one episode around that time when they went and told Comic Book Guy's name.

Expat(ish) said...

I understand that Craigslist is the place for hookups of the casual sort. I had single friends at my last company who used to pretend to be married to meet women through CL. They said that about half the time the woman clearly planned to blackmail them after the affair.

Odd world, glad I'm not in it.

-XC

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

I predict a progressive spate of redistributive and retributive change. Not due to the ambiguous occurrence of irreconcilable differences, but visceral reactions to normalized betrayal. We should probably ban lawyers and knives to get ahead of the slaughter.

Michael Haz said...

Choose well and this nonsense isn't necessary.

Nomennovum said...

I'm going to join Ashley Madison by pretending to be a married man just to confirm how fucked up American married women are.

Nomennovum said...

Because I already have confirmed my belief of single American women by joining OKCupid and Match.com.

Nomennovum said...

They said that about half the time the woman clearly planned to blackmail them after the affair.

Clearly divorcees, well practiced in the art of extortion.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

The "Downton Abbey" spoof was also part of this episode and it was quite good. As was Seth MacFarlane voicing Marge's interesting man-friend-whom-she-didn't-have-an-affair-with.

The voice of "Family Guy" is featured on "The Simpsons"? That's worth watching.

ed said...

Makes my confirmed bachelorhood more rational by the day.

n.n said...

ed:

Perpetual bachelorhood is a means to mitigate risk through avoidance. It's one option to reduce experiencing potential consequences from certain classes of risk.

The odds of encountering a fanatic are contextual. There are still reasonable women, and men, in this world; but, it is less likely you will discover them if you follow modern wisdom. The people who have a firm grasp of the terms and circumstances of reality, as well as a common morality, tend to be traditional. That is, they have adopted functional principles from their parents, grandparents, etc.

Portia said...

There goes the theory that the Simpsons had jumped the shark.