Global Student Stories: Man arrested for “Sugar Daddy” advert targeting students

A man has been arrested for targeting an advert for a “sugar daddy” website at students of Paris-Sorbonne. The billboard has also been removed.

The RichMeetBeautiful advert was being shown on a mobile billboard on the campus grounds, and featured a couple coupling beside the sign: “Romance, passion and no student loan; go out with a sugar daddy.

Paris deputy mayor Hélène Bidard condemned the advertisement as a form of prostitution: “As well as the public order problems caused by an advert that can be seen by minors, this site is an offence against women.”

City of Paris tweeted: “We strongly condemn this shameful advertisement. We’re working with the police to make it disappear from our streets.”

This site is an offence against women.
Hélène Bidard

Site founder Sigurd Vedal, however, has refuted this comparison and said the site operates like any other dating site by putting people into contact: “It’s a classic misunderstanding. We are like a normal dating site, but financial is part of the checklist.”

Student association FAGE has filed a complaint against the site for pimping and an investigation has been opened into the site advertising without permission.

Last May, a survey of nearly 1,500 UK students by The Independent and London South Bank showed that more than half of university students would be willing to enter a sugar daddy relationship if they lost their higher education funding. Meanwhile, 31% said they would be willing to use sex work in exchange for a free education.

Sugar daddy dating app Seeking Arrangement announced it had nearly a quarter of a million UK students registered last year, a 40% increase on the last two.