‘Carrot Dating’ Service Says Women in Boston are Accepting First Dates For a Tank of Gas

Photo via Carrot Dating

Some women in Boston are accepting first dates with strangers in exchange for a tank of gas for their car.

According to the highly controversial match-making service “Carrot Dating,” the mobile platform that allows users to bribe each other in order to get them in the same room for a dinner or a movie, out of the 400 people that have accepted a first date invitation using the app this year, 87 were enticed into going out as long as the suitor promised to fill their car to the top with fuel.

The Boston stats are based on dates that were coordinated in 2014, going back to January 1. The company said there were many more dates lined up through the means of bribery since the company’s launch in October of last year, but they only crunched the numbers using the most recent data.

The people at Carrot Dating, which claims to be the world’s first bribe-to-date site (not that they should be completely proud of that), ranked the most popular incentives that led to an actual first date. For Boston, the results were surprising to say the least. “For the men looking to guarantee a date, the solution is simple: a free fill-up. More women in Boston said, ‘yes’ to a free tank of gas more than any other gift or activity,” the company said in a statement.

There are more than 30 options on the dating app that users can choose between in exchange for some one-on-one time, including free plastic surgery, jewelry, and tickets to events like football games and the movies.

While other cities showed that the top choices for first dates were spa treatments and flashy jewelry, getting gasoline in a vehicle was the modus operandi for the women who utilized the site here in Boston. The company said in a statement it was the only major city using the service that showed that trend. “Opportunities can be few and far between for many singles. That is, unless you offer the right incentive,” said Brandon Wade, founder and CEO of Carrot Dating. “Offer her a tank of gas, and thank us later.”

Following behind gas fill-ups were vacations and shopping sprees paid for by the male user. Behind those incentives, 18 women went on a date in exchange for chocolate, 13 accepted coffee, and 12 went out in exchange for free dessert—which, if you consider the act of chivalry as not completely deceased, isn’t far off from a typical date anyways.

Wade, an MIT alum that has consistently pushed the boundaries of the dating scene, and caused an uproar in the process, invented the concept of Carrot Dating and made it public in October of 2013.

Besides his latest venture, which compares women to animals by claiming bribery is the best means of getting a person’s foot in the door regardless of how they look, Wade is also behind websites that encourage females to seek out older gentlemen willing to shell out cash in exchange for companionship, on his site “Seeking Arrangement.”

In a previous phone interview with Boston, Wade said he has been called a “misogynist,” and has been accused of promoting prostitution—two claims he said hold no weight. “This is far from prostitution. If [two people] ultimately decide there is chemistry between them, then that’s between them,” he said back in October. “It’s all about breaking the ice and having some fun. I really believe dating is superficial anyways. If you don’t get your foot in the door, you won’t even have a shot. This helps people get their foot in the door.”