Authorities and anti-prostitution campaigners in France have raised the alarm after mobile billboards advertising paid opportunities for students to date rich people appeared in the French capital.
The controversial dating website, ‘RichmeetBeautiful,’ launched the campaign targeting students in France, offering them the chance for "romance and passion" with a "Sugar Daddy or Sugar Mama," and not to worry about their college fees.
Billboards promising "no student loan" in exchange for students dating rich people appeared around Paris, local media reports.
The campaign apparently run by a dating website (which provides an address in Malta for any feedback), immediately sparked outrage among authorities.
City Hall said it "strongly condemned the shameful advertisement," adding, that it was teaming up with police in order to have the billboards removed. An investigation was launched Thursday after a vehicle with one such billboard had been stopped, AP reported citing police.
France's education minister and gender equality minister have called for a ban of the campaign. They described the website behind it as "nothing more than a tool that encourages prostitution," the Local reported.
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A petition on the international Change.org platform has also been launched, with activists claiming the ads are illegal as they "leave no room for doubt" that the service is promoting prostitution.
The social dating network says it aims to provide "mutually satisfactory relationship for both parties." However, it previously found itself in trouble in Belgium after a similar advertising campaign had been launched in Brussels.
Belgian authorities seized the billboards and launched a prostitution probe, The Local reported.