Dateless and desperate yarn a hoax

Danny Park was in truth far from desperate and dateless.
Danny Park was in truth far from desperate and dateless.
Far from desperate and dateless, Danny Park, who advertised on a Dunedin street last week for a date, was taking part in a stunt for his employer, a Dunedin radio station.

Spinning a yarn that he had recently broken up with his girlfriend and needed a date for a $200 mystery bus tour and dinner on Saturday night, Mr Park took to Princes St on Wednesday bearing a sign saying he needed a date.

The story featured in the Otago Daily Times on Thursday, then on Saturday the paper featured Mr Park and his "date".

However, there was no dinner or mystery tour, and the "date" was Mr Park's real-life fiancee, Mitzi Smart.

The pair even posed together for a photo on Friday morning without letting on it was a joke.

Miss Smart told the paper she had just moved to Dunedin from Oamaru and was on her way to a job interview when she drove past the sign; she even added she was so nervous about ringing the number she got her sister to do it.

Pressed on why he did not tell the newspaper the mystery date was his girlfriend, Mr Park said he was a "pawn" in a scheme cooked up by his workplace.

Mr Park last week told the ODT he was an office worker but declined to disclose where he worked.

Radio Network (southern) general manager Lee Piper said, in retrospect, Mr Park should have been more upfront with the newspaper, but there was no "malicious" intent.

The radio station's aim was to to see how many women would dial for a date after seeing the sign.

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