Wanna get more? Be seen reading lots of newspapers, and all the sections within it, if a newspaper industry-sponsored survey is to be believed.
Humanity has taken the search for aphrodisiacs to revolting extremes over the course of history.
Cleopatra dissolved pearl dust into wine. The Greeks ate sparrow brains. The French courtesan Madame du Barry drenched herself in whale vomit.
But according to a new survey, modern-day Canadians have a more dependable and less nauseating attractant at hand: newspapers.
An Ipsos Reid poll found that four out of every five Canadians say their ideal mate reads at least one newspaper a day. One in 10 had even greater demands, responding that a perfect companion would devour four or more newspapers a day.
And who paid Ipsos Reid to pipe this particular tune?
Commissioned by the Canadian Newspaper Association, the study polled 1,428 Canadians across the country between Jan. 31 and Feb. 4.
Here's some additional detail from the Ipsos news release:
Interestingly, Canadian men and women appear to be suitably matched for each other, with both genders indicating that their ideal mates are similar. Both prefer similar attributes in their ideal mate, including average height and weight, enough money not to worry about how to get by, and enough cooking skills to avoid microwave dinners every night.
The data also reveal that both men and women agree that their ideal mate would be well-informed about what is happening in the world – perhaps so that the conversation doesn’t become dull. More specifically, eight in ten women (86%) and men (80%) say that their ideal mate would read at least one newspaper every day. ...
As far as awareness of what's going on around them is concerned, most (40%) would like a partner who would look at least one newspaper in print or online in a typical day so that they would know at least the ‘local stories’ -- compared with 24% who would prefer their ideal mate to look at two online or print newspapers so that they could know the ‘national stories’, 10% to would want their ideal mate to peruse at least three newspapers either online or in print, and 9% who would be hopeful for someone who would look over at least four online or print newspapers in a typical day. One in six Canadians (17%) indicated that their ideal partner didn't have to look at any newspaper either online or print because they would like them to simply ‘know the moment’.
Hmmm. They won't want a partner to watch TV news or visit a TV website? I'm hurt. :)
One other thing:
... If they were out at a party they would be most attracted to start up a conversation which might lead to a more romantic fulfillment with someone who peruses all of the sections of an online or print newspaper (30%) -- compared with those who would prefer an ideal mate who often looks at the ‘news and commentary section’ (27%), the arts and lifestyles section (17%), the ‘sports section’ (8%), or the business section (3%). Just one in seven (15%) would prefer their ideal mate to have not looked at any of the sections of an online or print newspaper.