EHarmony Launches Service Based On Walter Mitty Movie Plotline
There you go life, imitating art again! eHarmony has strategically come up with an innovative new marketing tool after a character in the new Fox film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, utilized the services of a personal phone counselor from said site.
Ben Stiller‘s dreamy wanderer uses an eHarmony concierge throughout the movie in an attempt to meet his soul mate, which the matchmaking site has cleverly morphed into a real-life service offered to its clients.
Says eHarmony vp of customer service Grant Langston: ”[Fox] basically said, ‘You’re in the thick of the plot, and we want you to help us be accurate. As I read the script, I realized it couldn’t be accurate because that’s not the way we provide our service. EHarmony is a self-serve model.”
Though the new eH+ was meant to be launched as an early present/tie-in for the movie, which opens on Christmas day, it launched instead on Dec. with just one matchmaker (who, for all of you wondering, is actually a trained therapist).
The service is also pricey at $5,000 a year — a near sight more than the $60 a month for the online version of eHarmony — but can you really put a price on love? The non-cynical part of me says “It’s worth it.” The cynical part who has found her true love organically, however, scoffs at the extraneous price tag.
But at least Langston is honest. “If it was a different movie, we’d push hard against it because we’re choosy about how our brand is portrayed and we don’t have much of a relationship with Hollywood,” he says. “But I don’t know of very many situations where life imitates art in quite this way, so we didn’t want it to slip by.”
I say if you have the money, do it. eHarmony is one of the best sites in terms of their ability to secure compatible matches and life partners (and I should know after all the research I did for my book, Internet Dating 101: It’s Complicated But it Doesn’t Have to Be) and having someone as a personal concierge for this service simply sweetens the deal and personalizes the experience. And if I’m honest, a part of me is proud of eHarmony for capitalizing on an opportunity.
Way to go, matchmakers. You’re living the American dream while offering others a different kind of dream: happiness. Bravo!