Love at first bite? …Just one more pun to pin onto a TIME Magazine article releasing information about a new online dating idea. Salad Match is an app that connects you to your potential star-crossed lover based upon location and your go-to lunch selection. Initiated by Just Salad, a fast-food restaurant specializing in salads and wraps, Salad Match is a way to connect consumers, as well as bring newly matched couples into their restaurant locations in New York and Hong Kong.
When I found out the app was free, I had to download it– for the sole purpose of this article and to see who was really using this date-arranging tool. I chose one of the restaurant locations in New York, decided that the imaginary person for whom this profile would belong to dines at lunch time, and that they only eat gluten-free options offered by Just Salad. After my information was accepted, potential suitors showed up on my screen one at a time, with their name, age, any mutual friends from Facebook, and a photo. If it looks like “Sean” and I wouldn’t have much more in common than our salad choices, I can simply press “no.” If I were to press “yes” for any of the users, Just Salad would arrange a date and time for the two of us to meet and dine together at our commonly visited location. Salad Match is definitely keeping up with the times by reaching out to customers with iPhones and “on-the-go” lifestyles. With busy schedules and long days spent at work or school, or both, young adults often find themselves with little time for the dating scene.
Our parents and grandparents probably never thought that meeting a special someone would be through a salad-lovers only dating service. But at least you will know that you have something in common to chat about on your first date!