AUSTIN, Texas — Billboards can advertise a litany of goods and services, but one in Austin is offering the opportunity for single women to apply to date Leon Hendrix.

What You Need To Know

  • Man puts up in billboard looking for dates

  • He's received more than 800 submissions

  • Will give $5,000 to anyone who refers the woman who becomes his girlfriend 

Hendrix is a 24-year-old self-described health nut who moved to the U.S. less than a year ago in order to start a new business geared toward the event industry. He’s also looking for his “American dream girl.”

“Because of the pandemic, I had to postpone my actual plans of starting my business,” said Hendrix. “So I had a lot of time on my hands, and yeah, I wanted to meet someone, and then this idea came up with my friends and it was just like, it’s just a funny idea.”

Sick of swiping left and right? The German-born entrepreneur and his buddies wondered if they could put their marketing skills to work to help him find a girlfriend.

“I always thought, what of instead of marketing a product, just marketing myself, in order to get more efficiency into that,” chuckled Hendrix.

The joke got a quick shove into reality when Hendrix purchased billboard space at South Congress and Stassney Lane in Austin. The sign reads: “SINGLE? DATE LEON! APPLY AT DATELEON.COM”.

Women, preferably ages 21-29, and definitely 18 or older, according to the website, are required to fill out an application form with a variety of questions. There are “light questions” like, “Do you read books, listen to podcasts or watch certain channels on YouTube? Name your favorites.” There there are “deeper questions” such as, “What’s the toughest challenge you’ve overcome in your personal life?”

The website also offers a chance to win $5,000 “if you refer the girl that ends up being Leon’s girlfriend.”

“The $5,000 is really just part of the marketing ploy, and it’s working like wonders,” said Hendrix. “People have been sharing it as a joke, and some, some of them probably seriously, but most of them just send it over to their friends as a joke, which is perfect. Because that means more outreach, it keeps the discussion going, more engagement on Facebook.”

Hendrix says he’s willing to pony up the $5,000, but that’s only after finding someone to be in a committed relationship with. He says that’s not going to be a quickly made decision. 

So far, Hendrix has received more than 800 applications, albeit the majority he says are from internet trolls or people who think he’s loaded. Hendrix says he’s not stupid and can easily spot the so-called “gold digger” applications. While he has indeed both started and sold a company, Hendrix doesn’t hide the fact that he got the billboard at a discount, he himself designed the website and he also has three roommates.

“They’re going to notice it when they meet me. I’m a very frugal guy,” said Hendrix.

So, is this truly an attempt to find love, or just a way to get some exposure? 

“Actually I wasn’t thinking about that specifically, but I guess it has that benefit as well,” said Hendrix. “It’s really hitting multiple birds with one stone. So it’s a fun experience. I might actually meet someone--and yeah, it gets the word out and gets me in touch with other interesting people that, you know, think this is funny.”

Hendrix says his friends are helping file through the applications, and some do sound promising, but he admits he’s not getting his hopes up.