Hey, couples who met on Match.com: Do you have any children between the ages of 13 and 20? Do you hope for them to go to college one day? Do you, or your significant other, have a modicum of proficiency in iMovie and/or other video editing platforms? If the answer to the above three questions is “yes,” then we have some good news for you: Your child could be eligible for a $50,000 college scholarship, courtesy of the gentle folk at Match.com.
Over the next two months, the dating website will be holding a #MatchMade scholarship competition on Facebook and Twitter, inviting the children of those who met on the site to submit a short video describing how their parents met, and the role Match.com played in their courtship. Here, watch this short video featuring an ethnically diverse cast of adorable children and find out more!
“Thousands of kids have been born through Matched couples,” the video says. “We call them Matchmade. And now the Matchmade scholarship will connect kids to an education, the same way we connected their parents.”
According to CEO Sam Yagan, the #MatchMade scholarship competition is open to contestants between the ages of 13 and 17, whose parents or step-parents met on the site. After the submission period, the general public will vote on their top 10 favorite finalists, from which Match.com will select a final winner.
Since Match.com was founded 19 years ago, Yagan estimates that at least 1 million babies have been born to couples who met on the website, which now boasts approximately 21.5 million users. He projects that more than 100,000 of these “Matchmade” babies will enter the contest, an estimate that, while probably a bit inflated, speaks to how the once-stigmatized practice of online dating has now achieved mainstream acceptance.
When the website first launched, Yagan says, people who met on Match.com “were making up stories: ‘We met at the park,’ or at a conference. Now people are pretty open about it,” he told BuzzFeed Business.
“I hope this [competition] will encourage kids all around the country to ask, ‘How did you meet?’ People should know that about their parents and talk about their love story.’” The $50,000 prize, plus a $5,000 vacation award for the parents, isn’t such a bad incentive either.
H/T Daily Mail | Screengrab via Match.com/YouTube
