Mike Orren Staff

Love their testimonial page:

http://www.marryourdaughter.com/index...

"Thank God for your site! Our daughter was really nervous walking down the aisle, but she seems okay now and the money we got let us keep our farm and even add on a few acres."

—Mrs. Addrien L.

"At first we were worried that Janine was too young to get married, but then her new husband bought her a house and a car and jewelry and the money we got let us buy a house for ourselves. Getting out of the trailer park at our age was the best thing that ever happened to us, and it’s all thanks to Marry Our Daughter!"

—Mr. Jack M.

Crikey.

It's registered through Domainsbyproxy, so hard to tell who's behind it all.

Been around for a while and doesn't look like the listings or testimonials have changed much: http://message.snopes.com/showthread....

Others think it's a hoax, but the Google ads used as evidence are gone: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/we...

Thanks, Chad. You made me waste ten minutes, and this will undoubtedly be the most clicked on thing in this week's email.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Alex Bentley Staff

I don't know which testimonial is creepier -- this one:

“I was SO scared getting married so young, but my husband is an okay guy and I am SO proud that because of me my parents were able to get their first brand-new car and take the trip they always wanted to. I couldn’t have done it without your site!"

—Katrina K., married at 14

Or this one:

“Our 15 year old daughter Mary wasn’t very popular and did nothing but mope around the house bringing everybody down, so we decided to marry her off through your site. Now our house is a lot cheerier and we love our new swimming pool and Jaccuzi! We’ve told our youngest that when she turns 15 we’re going to marry her off too!"

—Mrs. James P.

If this is real... (shudder)

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren Staff

All this talk on the Interwebs about this and all it took was 30 seconds of "reporting" to get the answer. I emailed the company and the exchange is below.

On Sep 11, 2007, at 2:45 PM, Marry Our Daughter wrote:

Yes, this is a real site.

On 9/11/07, Mike Orren <mikeorren@pegasusnews.com> wrote: Simple question: Is this for real?

And there you have it (dusting off hands from labor of emailing).

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Chad Jones Staff

Valiant journalism, dear boss sir. I emailed a Mr. B Wallington @ http://marryourdaughter.com (same guy?) before noon today with the same question, and he is yet to respond. Perhaps the title "President" compelled him to send his enlightening reply your way. In either case, I have purchased a crate of wives for the office that will arrive within five-to-ten business days.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren Staff

Ah-- You fell for the oldest trick in the book. Never email the top guy. Email the "media contact."

Will these new wives clean up uneaten pizza crusts left on staffers' desks?

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren Staff

Ack, I can't stop reading these:

Sandy writes and mixes electronic music and creates the arrangements her gymnastics team performs to. A skilled gymnast herself she is lithe and limber enough to back-flip with the best of them. A very focused and driven young lady, Sandy is looking for a husband who is steady and understanding for those times when she goes over the top.

Sarah calls herself a Goth but we insisted she not dress in black for this photo. She reads and writes a lot of depressing poetry and it takes a lot to get her nose out of a book. She says she’s an Old Soul in a new young body and she’s already been married lots of times and she might die again tomorrow so why wait?

If this isn't real, the writers deserve a major comedy-writing award.

And it's Not Just for Christians Anymore™:

Janna is a nice Jewish girl from the northeast whose family moved to a small town in the midwest four years ago. As the town’s only Jewish family it is impossible for her to find the legendary Nice Jewish Boy to marry. Her husband to be must keep or be willing to keep a Kosher home, be willing to live by Orthodox Jewish beliefs, and want at least four children.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Chad Jones Staff

Ah, Mr. Wallington is Public Relations, not Press/PR as I thought. I don't know about pizza crusts, but by virtue of having index fingers they are more than qualified to work in this joint.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Chris Curotolo Staff

Chad, you clearly did not read the following disclaimer:

"Please do not propose to multiple Daughters or you risk having all your proposals disqualified."

Looks like we'll have to order them separately.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

John Meyer Staff

Personally, I'm holding out for http://MarryOurThriceDivorcedHotMom.com

But then, I'm already married, which could itself present complications.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren Staff

Presume you're talking about the metadata to attract the search engines. That's mentioned in the Snopes thread too.

Let's say it's less than "Christian."

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren Staff

Well, DC, I inquired about the metadata and here's what I heard back:

We're new to the web and signed up with one of those "drive traffic to your site" services, and they stuck that in without telling us what it was. At first it was on all our pages in tiny letters. We haven't gotten around to taking down the source code since it's not visible unless you look for it.

P.S. we're not a Christian site. Biblical covers more than Christian.

On 9/11/07, Mike Orren <mikeorren@pegasusnews.com> wrote: So, if you're a Christian site, how do you justify the metadata in your pages -- Is this what you're trying to visit upon these gals?

meta name="description" content="If you're a lonely guy who's tired of the dating scene, why not MARRY OUR DAUGHTER?" meta name="keywords" content="preteen, virgin, sex, teens, marriage, marry, slave, matchmaker, bride, mail-order, underage, young, money, naked, child, kids, daughter, teenage, juvenile, escort, buy"

Fair enough. That does jive with the stories on Snopes, etc. And they're responsive at least. Anybody got a question for them?

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

April Powell Staff

Yes. Full names of satisfied customers so I can pull the marriage licenses in the respective states to confirm their "testimonials."

Sigh. This website is "real" the same way that Pam Anderson's boobs are "real." They exist. They're not imaginary. That doesn't mean they're authentic.

The website occupies virtual space. In that sense, it's a "real site." But I say there's no way it's "real" in the sense that the information presented is in earnest.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Chad Jones Staff

Alas. My fears, and wedding plans, are tarnished.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren Staff

Thanks, sjthornton:

The money-quotes in the Times piece:

Texas has a particularly ridiculous legal discrepancy, he says. Kids as young as 14 need parental permission to get married – unless, the law says, they have already been married before.

and

He said he avoided spinning his fiction to print journalists who might get fired for falling for the scheme, but reasoned that radio shock jocks had looser leashes.

Guess the Interwebs get thrown in there with the shock jocks. No respect, no respect I tells ya...

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Laura Seewoester Staff

There is no way this is real. Does the "sign up our daughter" link actually work for anyone? It doesn't for me.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Chad Jones Staff

Yes.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )