London – Got milk? Got a date? A group of dairy farmers are putting singles ads on milk cartons in the hopes of finding Mr. or Mrs. Right in the far- flung countryside of Wales.
The novel approach to the singles scene coincides with Thursday’s celebration of St. Dwynwen’s Day, the Welsh patron saint of lovers.
“My family thinks I’m nuts,” said farmer Iwan Jones, 30, who appears on the cartons and hasn’t had a date in a year. “My friends think it’s hilarious – but everyone’s taking it with kind of a lighthearted attitude.”
Three men and two women appear in the ads, which feature an oval photograph under the heading, “Fancy a farmer?”
The dating website is pishynwales.com. Since the ads appeared Monday, the site has received 2,500 hits, about 10 times the usual daily traffic, said Aran Jones of the nonprofit operation.
The ads are also a way of highlighting the low points of a dairy farmer’s hardscrabble existence in Welsh communities such as Camarthenshire, where the cooperative is based 220 miles from London. Farmers say they often feel isolated among the verdant rolling hills.
