An unlucky-in-love Londoner has taken matters into his own hands - by advertising for a wife at Oxford Circus.
Bachelor Jeevan Bhachu put up two huge ads of himself on the platforms at the Central and Bakerloo lines of Oxford Circus on Thursday for two weeks as part of a campaign to ‘Find Jeevan a wife’.
The 31-year-old, who works in marketing, says the ads cost him £2,000. They have the slogan: “Best Indian you’ll takeaway”.
He claimed the cheeky tag-line, however, initially got him into hot water with TfL - as they allegedly told him it broke their rules against advertising junk food.
He told the Standard: “It was quite bizarre, really. But they finally came to their senses and realised it had nothing to do with takeaways.”
Jeevan, from Ealing, has previously tried virtual speed dating and apps like Tinder, but has yet to find the one person to settle down with.
His adverts link to a website, findjeevanawife.com, which has a form for prospective love interests to fill out if they would be interested in a date.
“I’ve been in relationships before, but I’m not getting any younger,” he said. “I just thought it would be a good way of standing out.
“I didn’t do it on billboards because I thought TfL would be more effective. You’re waiting on a train every five minutes, and everyone’s on their phones so they can use it to look up my website”.
He was inspired in his efforts by Muhammad Malik, who earlier this year launched a billboard campaign across the UK’s major cities in a bid to find “Mrs Right”.
“It’s quite similar to getting a job, you see people outside stations giving out their CVs and that’s a genius tactic,” he said.
Friends and family have been “supportive and positive” he said, with some complimenting his eye-catching pink suit and his bravery at placing the ads in one of London’s busiest underground stations.
Jeevan, who also a house music DJ in bars and clubs, said he was quite “open-minded” about any potential love interest.
His website states that he is looking for “someone who is family orientated, humble, and wants to make the most of life. Appreciating humour and not taking life too seriously is key.”
Since launching the ads, he has had around 50 responses, he said, with the site getting a high number of responses since the weekend.
However, if he does not find love from this round of ads, he has considered placing more ads at King’s Cross or another station.
“For me, even to just get one genuine response is what the aim is,” he said. “I’m not looking for hundreds, I’m just looking for ‘the one’”.
