It was meant to be a dating Web site exclusively for the use of “beautiful men and women,” where members ruthlessly selected and excluded those who did not match their definitions of good looks.
However, last month, when BeautifulPeople.com was attacked by a computer virus, some claim standards slipped and about 30,000 new members gained admittance. Now, in a move that has made those rejected “apoplectic” with rage, they have been unceremoniously booted off at a financial cost of more than US$100,000 to the site’s operators.
The virus was quickly named Shrek — after the animated film about how looks should not matter — as it attacked the software used to screen potential members. A helpline has now been set up with counselors on hand to help the distressed rejects from the site.
“We have to stick to our founding principles of only accepting beautiful people — that’s what our members have paid for,” BeautifulPeople.com managing director Greg Hodge said. “We can’t just sweep 30,000 ugly people under the carpet.”
Hodge reckoned the Shrek virus — which may have been posted by a disgruntled former employee — had affected the software that existing members use to rate prospective new entrants, allowing anyone to join. The Web site boasts that “beauty lies in the eyes of the voter,” who are able to rank aspiring members on a type of traffic light scale where red is “absolutely not” and bright green is “beautiful.”
The site posts applicants’ photographs alongside information about their weight and height and ask candidates to describe their “body type,” as well as whether they own a car or home along with their zodiac sign.
“We got suspicious when tens of thousands of new members were accepted over a six-week period, many of whom were no oil painting,” Hodge said.
The brutal axing of the 30,000 hopefuls is not the site’s first brush with controversy.
Last year, about 5,000 members were removed from the site after they had appeared to put on weight during the Christmas period.
This month, the Web site triggered anger in Ireland when it said that Irish men were among the ugliest in the world.
This was based on the reasoning that only 9 percent of male Irish applicants to the site were accepted. Only 20 percent of Irish women are accepted, compared with nearly 70 percent of Swedish women who sign up.
The prospects are even worse for British men, as according to Hodge, they are the most likely be rejected.
“It’s a bit of a sting as I’m a Brit,” said Hodge, who is based at the site’s head office in Los Angeles.
On average, one in seven people are rejected from the site, which has about 700,000 members in 190 countries.
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