online dating. If they are, she says, it’s because Hollywood has taught us that we’re all supposed to look a certain way. The cardboard is removed, and the woman’s true body is revealed. It is … totally average-sized. “The reality is, most of us have a few extra curves,” she says. (Miller is proud of his commercials, for both CurvesConnect and FarmersOnly. He said that he’s involved in almost every aspect of production. Some he writes, shoots and edits locally. Others are produced out in L.A. A recent spot, which will likely remain a YouTube exclusive, was the first Miller ever made without a script, he said. It’s reportedly going viral in the horse community. FarmersOnly briefly made news, in early 2016, when it was sued by former Bachelor star Chris Soules for using his likeness in a commercial.) In some ways, the thesis that underpins CurvesConnect.com — you don’t necessarily have to be overweight; you just have to value the idea that people should be accepted for who they are — is the same sort of thesis that led to FarmersOnly’s massive success. Miller’s marketing strategy has been to make the site a destination for people with certain country values — even if they’re not actually farmers.
IT TURNS OUT SCENE ’S prompt connection to Miller himself was not unusual. Miller said that for years, he had his personal cell phone number directly on the FarmersOnly site, which allowed for direct engagement with his customers. (He now extends the same courtesy to CurvesConnect users.) Miller viewed those frequent interactions not only as market research, but as continual opportunities for education and growth. They also made for great stories. In one of his favorites, a 65-year-old woman called him, desperate to set up her profile. Her name was Martha. “She said, ‘I’m looking at my picture here in my hand, and I’m looking at these pictures on the computer. How do I get mine up there? Is there a slot?’” Miller told her to mail her photo to him. He’d scan it and put it on the site for her. A week after he’d done it, he got a call from Martha. She was overjoyed to tell him that she’d just gotten married.
Miller thought he’d misheard. Married? To someone she met on the site? How was that even possible? It turned out a 72-year-old rancher from North Dakota named Al had seen her profile shortly after she’d put it up and happened to be heading to Ohio to pick up a trailer. He asked to meet, and she agreed. They had such a lovely time that Al invited Martha to drive back with him to North Dakota. He’d pay for her to get back to Ohio, but he’d sure love the company. By the time they arrived in North Dakota, 20 hours later, they realized they were meant for each other. They tracked down a preacher, who found the situation unusual, but ultimately didn’t object. ‘At your age, I think you know what you’re doing,’ he said. Miller said he knew many people have found love on his sites — people like Rachel and Paul, from Oklahoma and Missouri, respectively, who just celebrated their one-year anniversary — but he wouldn’t hazard a guess as to an official “success rate.” He said he was at a farmequipment convention in Kentucky a few years back, and 20 people came up to him individually to thank him. They’d all met their partner on FarmersOnly. Miller asked each of them if they’d let FarmersOnly know about the wedding. Only two had notified the site. Miller shrugged. “If I go to CVS for Advil, I don’t run back the next day to let them know it cured my headache,” he said. That’s why he’s skeptical of sites that brag about the percentage of their memberships that result in “successful marriages.” But he’s less concerned with the number of marriages than he is with people finding happiness. Loneliness, he said repeatedly, is a serious problem, and he’s just trying to do what he can to keep it at bay. “Look,” he said, fishing out his phone to reveal a message he’d received earlier that day. It was an email, to the FarmersOnly site, in all caps: “I FOUND SOMEONE SPECIAL.” Miller smiled. He didn’t know who on earth this person was. He didn’t know if this person had found their special someone on FarmersOnly, CurvesConnect or out in the real world. And honestly, he didn’t care.
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| clevescene.com | January 31 - February 6, 2018
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