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With a title like the Ashley Madison Agency, you’d think you were signing up to a genteel matchmaking agency where you sipped tea from a china cup while explaining to the matronly hostess exactly what you were looking for in the opposite sex.  Just look at the logo.  Does that REALLY look like a company that profits by hooking married folks up for affairs?

The Ashley Madison Agency isn't exactly afraid of stirring up trouble by advertising its affair-friendly philosophy on American billboards and television commercials.  Public outrage forced it to take down its billboard in Times Square last year after just three days, due to its provocative slogan: “Life is short. Have an affair.”

Creator Noel Biderman is no stranger to scandal. He’s also the creator of the infamous rating site HotOrNot.com.  He believes that his unique online dating website for cheaters fulfills a need by catering to “people craving or seeking intimacy outside their relationships.”  In fact, he believes that his website is actually providing a service by helping women escape bad marriages and improve their self-esteem by feeling desirable again.

Like most dating websites, however, AshleyMadison.com suffers the disadvantage of being heavily weighted towards male users.  Only 28% of their 3.5 million subscriber base is female.  Ashley Madison also admits to contacting subscribers under the guise of “simulating attached or single men or women.” Of course, it’s all for “market research” purposes, and you can opt out of it in your preferences, but it’s something to be wary of.

The biggest advantage Ashley Madison has over its competition is its guarantee: have an “Affair to Remember” within three months of signing up, or your money back.  As their press release states, “Take that, Match.com!”  You’ll be spending more than you would with most traditional dating sites (US$249 for the affair guarantee program), but you’ll have less chance of being discovered and less need for subterfuge.  Everyone on the site knows what’s at stake, and you won’t have to pretend that you’re something you’re not.

Ashley Madison isn’t unique.  Websites like LonelyCheatingWives.com and MarriedDateClub.com do the same thing.  But the Ashley Madison difference is class.  Insofar as a website for cheaters could ever be considered “classy,” Ashley Madison does its best.

See what the fuss is about at AshleyMadison.com.