Post-Breach, Ashley Madison Tries on a New Identity
Following its very public breach and dump of user data last year, the now-infamous cheating site Ashley Madison is trying on a new identity.
The site has dropped its signature tagline—"Life is short. Have an Affair"—in favor of something more understated: "find your moment."
The old tagline "was a limiting label that's outdated and doesn't speak to the wide variety of connections people find on Ashley Madison," said Rob Segal, CEO of Ashley Madison parent company Avid Life Media, which is also getting a rebrand as Ruby Corp. According to Segal, "close to" 45 percent of Ashley Madison members are actually single.
More than 50 percent of members are attached and "interested in a wide range of experiences," Segal added. "While remaining true to our roots, Ashley Madison needs to evolve, grow and attune to modern sexuality in 2016."
For Ashley Madison, "modern sexuality" apparently means hotel flings, polyamory, and creeping on people in the subway—three themes the company is exploring in new television ads set to air in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada beginning next week. Check out the Poly ad below.
A new identity won't completely erase the past, though. Reuters last week reported that the company formerly known as Avid Life Media is being investigated by the US Federal Trade Commission in connection with the Ashley Madison breach. Details of the probe are scant, but Reuters suggested it may have to do with the so-called fembots Avid used to impersonate real women and talk to paying male customers.
This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.