Woman Launches Billboard Campaign to Find Husband

Lisa Catalano was growing tired of matches on dating apps that never seemed to go anywhere. So, she came up with a plan to reach eligible bachelors directly during their daily commute in the city she loves.

The 42-year-old San Francisco Bay area native launched a website for men to apply to date her, then plastered the site, MarryLisa.com, across digital billboards along the Highway 101 between Santa Clara and South San Francisco and on top of taxis driving through town, hoping the ads would catch the eye of the right guy.

“I never expected I would do something like this in my life,” Catalano admits to PEOPLE. “I’m almost in shock that I did it, really.”

It all started as somewhat of a joke when she started developing the application site back in June.

“Every time I would get frustrated with how the dating scene in general was, I would spend another five, 10 minutes just typing away on my computer, making the website just kind of as a little creative outlet,” she says.

But the more she worked on the website as the summer slipped by, the better it started to look. Her loved ones eventually came around, too: “I think that they thought it was a little bit crazy of an idea at first, and then it took anywhere from 10 minutes to two weeks, depending on the person, to kind of come around to the idea,” she says.

By extension, even in a digital world, roadway billboards began to seem like the easiest way to spread the word.

“I can have this website, but if nobody’s looking at it, what good is it going to do? So I started thinking, ‘Okay, well how can I promote this?’ ” she says, noting she wanted a local option to attract someone who already lives in the Bay Area.

Catalano’s billboards are simple, featuring an image of herself alongside the website address typed in large yellow font over a black background. She’s targeting both morning and evening commuters, but the ads play in eight-second intervals, so she opted for a design that wasn’t too busy.

“I wanted something that was just very simple, to the point and little bit eye catching,” Catalano says, noting she didn’t want potential matches to have to fumble to scan a QR code. She’s also waiting to reveal a breakdown of the cost of the project until after she’s found the right match.

The application form itself delves deeper, but isn’t altogether different than the prompts on most dating apps. Questions range from education, occupation and location to hobbies and personality. There’s also room to upload photos.

“I don’t think I’m being out of line with my non-negotiables,” Catalano says. “I want somebody who is looking for a committed, monogamous relationship who would like to try for starting a family. I’m looking for someone who leads a healthy lifestyle.”

Catalano is also hoping to find someone who aligns with her on religion and politics, who is ideally between the ages of 35 to 45. So far, she’s heard back from applicants as young as 19 and as old as 78.

The billboards and website went live on Sept. 2. Since then, Catalano says many people assume hers is a “never been kissed situation.” In reality, she found herself single again after a multi-year engagement.

Her fiancé, whose name she is keeping private out of respect for his family, died in 2023 after a battle with a terminal illness. Dating apps felt new and foreign to her when she eventually started to move forward. More matches also didn’t necessarily yield more meaningful conversations or dates.

“I do think the apps can work, really, but in my case, I’m just not getting the results,” Catalano says, noting it’s a “very strange process to try to get back into dating when you’ve been in a relationship for so long.”

In the months since she launched the site, she estimates she’s received around 1,800 responses. The broader reaction to the project has been polarizing.

“It’s almost like a 50/50 split on this. People either love the idea or they hate it,” Catalano says. “They either think what I’m doing is incredible and inspiring and brave, or they think that I’m just just the worst person on earth, and there’s no in between.”

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“I never thought that I could actually be this strong in this type of a situation,” she adds. “And for as much hate as I’m getting right now, I’m also getting a lot of love and a lot of encouragement and support, and I’m so grateful for that.”

Still, in the flood of responses, some applications have already caught her eye.

“I think that there’s a guy out there who’s a perfect fit for me, and I think I’m a perfect fit for him. We just have not connected yet,” Catalano says. “And I would venture to say that his application could already be in my inbox right now.”