A Groupon Romance

Mike Krumboltz

Romance isn't dead. In fact, one lucky lady just purchased a lifetime of love for the low, low price of one dollar.

Here's the scoop. A Cincinnati man named John proposed to Dana, his longtime lady friend, via online coupon site Groupon. Traditionalists may squawk, but they can't argue with the results -- Dana, a cheerleader for the Cincinnati Bengals, said "yes." Well, technically, she didn't say yes. She clicked on the "Buy now for $1" button.

The proposal, reported to be the first ever on Groupon, was surprisingly sweet and devoid of anything overtly nerdy (good job, groom). John, an engineer, wrote, "I want the amazing times to continue by spending the rest of my life with you-the sweetest, most beautiful, and smartest woman in the entire world... Will you marry me?" OMG, so sweet!

An article from Mashable explains the logistics. Groupon told Mashable, "Greg contacted us because his girlfriend Dana is a huge Groupon fan. We are also giving them a Groupon a month in 2011 to keep the magic alive, since we all know romance dies as soon as you say 'I will.'"

The unorthodox but effective proposal set off a flurry of Web searches and blog posts. A writer for Salon.com argues that the proposal is actually pretty traditional in that it's very public. In the old days, people proposed in the middle of a park. Now, they do it online via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and, yep, even Groupon.

No word yet on when the big day will be. But we're pretty sure John and Dana will be busy in coming months looking for deals on dresses, tuxedos, and honeymoon spots (probably on a certain site that rhymes with coupon).