Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

local-singles

2018-02-18 View on smbc-comics.com → 1 revision
local-singles
Votey panel for local-singles
This explanation is incomplete or may contain errors. It was generated by AI and has not yet been reviewed by a human editor.

Explanation

The Joke

A person is browsing the internet and notices that online sex ads have become "uncomfortably realistic over time." The ad on screen reads: "Attractive local singles who are just absolutely dying inside would probably talk to you and maybe, just maybe, that would lead to something?"

Instead of the typical absurdly confident promises of internet ads ("Hot singles in your area want to meet you NOW!"), this ad has evolved into something painfully honest and relatable -- depicting a woman who is emotionally struggling and whose interest in the viewer is presented as tentative and uncertain at best.

The Humor

The joke plays on the evolution of internet advertising tropes. Classic "local singles" ads are famously unrealistic, promising gorgeous people desperate to meet you. Here, the ad has overcorrected into brutal honesty: the singles are "dying inside," they'd only "probably" talk to you, and the outcome is hedged with "maybe, just maybe." The humor comes from recognizing that this depressing, qualified version of the pitch is actually far closer to reality than the original ads ever were. The word "uncomfortably" in the setup does double duty -- it is uncomfortable both because the ad is too honest and because that honesty hits close to home about modern dating and loneliness.

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