“NEED A CAR? ‘DATE’ OUR SON.” That’s the strange billboard advertisement greeting drivers on local roadways, including the Massachusetts Turnpike East in Allston.
It looks like an opportunity to get a free car: a “clean, rust-free” 2004 Buick Regal with 40k miles. But it comes with a caveat: you must “date” the advertisers’ son. The quotation marks around “date” make the task all the more mysterious.
Per the billboard, the son is “smart but socially very shy. ‘Date’ him and bring him out of his shell before college.” But don’t express interest just to make fun — “serious inquiries” are welcome via email to DateOurSon@gmail.com.
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The billboard, spotted by a Reddit user, is not just an advertising anomaly — it’s reportedly part of the marketing campaign for a new Jennifer Lawrence movie called “No Hard Feelings.”
In a trailer released Thursday, Lawrence plays an Uber driver named Maddie who loses her car — and with it, her income. When a friend shows her a job listing from concerned parents who promise a Buick Regal to someone willing to date their son, she responds to the ad, declaring that she’ll “date” their son’s “brains out.” The bawdy comedy appears to follow Maddie and her quest to get the nerdy 19-year-old (played by Andrew Barth Feldman) to open up.
Vogue describes the film as a comedy in the vein of “Harold and Maude.”
The film, directed by Gene Stupnitsky, is set to be released June 23, according to Deadline. Besides Lawrence and Feldman, it stars Matthew Broderick, Ebon Moss-Bachrach of “The Bear” fame, Laura Benanti, and Natalie Morales.
The Drive, an automotive industry publication, notes that the billboard ad was also posted on social media platforms, and that a Reddit administrator confirmed it’s a campaign for “No Hard Feelings.”
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So what happens if you send an email to that address? Local radio station Hot 96.9 Boston reports that an automatic response thanks the sender for their interest and says that the advertisers will land on a winner on March 9.
It doesn’t look like a coincidence that the reveal date is the same day as the trailer release.
Abigail Lee can be reached at abigail.lee@globe.com.