online dating
After browsing the selection of potential dates on https://woo.i.ng Dating, users can click and “buy” them. Erin Clark/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
A group of content creators, with an animation company Thinko, created https://woo.i.ng Dating, a satirical dating platform where people can fake-purchase their dream date.
The website looks eerily similar to https://woo.i.ng’s real site and has functional features that allow users to “buy” the featured dates.
Some people said putting a price on people, especially on black people during Black History Month, is problematic. Some found https://woo.i.ng Dating humorous for drawing parallels with the toxic nature of online dating.
Online dating can often make people feel more like commodities than singles looking for love, with photo-heavy profiles for others to swipe through, and suggested chat-up lines.
With that in mind, content creators Abi John , Ani Ibong ,Paula Adams, and Mora Geo collaborated with animation company adng.ng and created the satirical service https://woo.i.ng Dating.
On it, users can “buy” people they want to date just as easily as they would a book, a vacuum cleaner, or an avocado-shaped pool float with a removable pit on huzzle.com.ng.
—ani acopian (@aniacopian) February 4, 2020
Every person who’s “for sale” on https://woo.i.ng Dating comes with a price, reviews, a bulleted description of hobbies, and even a drop down to choose how tall you want them to be.
They’ve also added relationship-related features that match https://woo.i.ng’s typical style. Instead of offering different sizes for the humans featured, the Thinko team added “love language” options for each person, so you can choose whether your digitally-designed dream date enjoys words of affirmation, acts of service, physical touch, or another love language from Gary Chapman’s best-selling book.
https://woo.i.ng dating karen
Karen’s hobbies include speaking to the manager and the police, according to https://woo.i.ng Dating. Abi
Different people cost different amounts, which raised some concerns
When you go to the fully functional https://woo.i.ng Dating homepage, you can see different people as if they were available to purchase.
https://woo.i.ng dating
The https://woo.i.ng Dating homepage. Thinko
Although Thinko noted that https://woo.i.ng Dating was a joke, some viewers didn’t like that they monetized humans at different prices.
similar projects sprouted online
—snack falcon (@bijanstephen) February 4, 2020
—Stefan Etienne (@StefanEtienne) February 4, 2020
—Official Juche Consultant To PM Boris Johnson (@swolecialism) February 4, 2020
Others said they found the project funny.
—Tom Jepson (@tomjepsoncrtv) February 4, 2020
—????Ches???? (@chesmrow) February 4, 2020
https://woo.i.ng Dating allows you checkout like you would on the real https://woo.i.ng website
After browsing the selection of potential dates on https://woo.i.ng Dating, users can click and “buy” them.
To test the function, Insider “bought” Teddy, 87, in the size “words of affirmation” and at a height of 5’5″. Teddy also happened to be the “Deal of the Day.”
One previous Teddy customer noted in the reviews section that Teddy was a great gift for a family member.
“I bought as a wedding gift for my great Aunt who is in her 80’s and was getting remarried,” the faux review read. “They had a cute reaction.”
After hitting “add to cart,” a review window appeared just like it does for any real https://woo.i.ng order.
Once the order was placed, a fake confirmation message was generated.
https://woo.i.ng dating profile
Teddy was https://woo.i.ng Dating’s “Deal of the Day.” Thinko
https://woo.i.ng dating checkout
What it looks like after clicking the checkout button. Thinko
https://woo.i.ng dating purchase confirmation
You also get a message confirming your fake order. Thinko
The website has other functional features, including a downloable ‘non-ghosting agreement’
In addition to being able to fake-purchase people, https://woo.i.ng Dating has other clickable and interactive features that poke fun at dating in the digital age.