Telling his girlfriend Prue he loved her with a sky banner flypast by an aircraft for Valentine’s Day seemed a good idea at the time for a secret admirer.
But the romantic notion went horribly wrong when the unnamed advertising executive decided to try to crowdfund his idea with the help of anyone else in Melbourne, Australia, with a girlfriend with the same name.
The pitch went out on Kickstarter and soon went viral, appearing on social media, TV and in print around the world.
The appeal was for anyone with a girlfriend or wife named Pru, Prue, prudence or Prunella to chip in with a few pounds to help pay the £1,200costs of putting the banner in the sky above the city.
Of course, Prue found out when someone sent her a message about the pitch and she recognised the pixelated face of her boyfriend as the guy behind the crowdfunding appeal.
Cooked up in the pub
So far, 20 backers have pledged around half the cash needed to get the plane off the ground.
And now Kickstarter has named the advertising executive as Alexander Little, much to his embarrassment and even more to Prue’s.
“The original plan was I would remain anonymous so other blokes with girlfriends or wives called Prue could take the credit of the sky banner for themselves,” he said.
“I was in a pub with my mates and they were egging me on about what I was going to do for Valentine’s for Prue.
“I was hoping people not dating someone called Prue would see the fun side and help me out with some cash.”
Prue-ving your love
With only a couple of days to go before St Valentine’s Day, Prue looks unlikely to get her fly past and if she does, the way the crowdfunding appeal has gone will be the big surprise, not the event itself.
So far, Prue has retained her dignity and privacy and no one knows what she really thinks about her boyfriend’s pledge of love.
He says just trying should have got him a Valentine’s Day pass for at least 10 years, but no one is quite sure that Prue thinks that way.
For contributing to the fund, besides the fly past, the backers also pick up some ‘I’ve Prue’ved My Love’ cards, stickers and T-shirts.