It’s stereotype ridiculed by American males and cherished by their Britsh counterparts: American girls love a British accent. To them it seems more worldly and debonair, full of old-world charm and elegance. Apparently this exoticism overcomes more negative stereotypes, such as pale skin, bad teeth, and constant drunkeness. Despite the fact that, thanks to the BP oil spill disaster, anti-British sentiment is as high as it’s been since, I don’t know, the Revolutionary War, someone has decided to help out American girls with a thing for a British accent (and British guys who, I imagine, are happy to test out the stereotype). It’s online dating site, called DateBritishGuys.com, that matches “American-based chicks (any nationality is ok!) and British chaps (100% British Beef Only!).” (Note the chicks-chaps mix of American and British slang, how cute). The brand new site is currently free, but for a limited time only, a standard for online dating startups.

It’s been noted time and again how the Internet has rendered possible a plethora of profitable niche dating sites, but what I find most interesting about this latest entry is its NYC launch meet and greet party, covered here in the New York Times. It’s interesting because it’s a good lesson of how to launch such a project in a fun, and successful way.

The site took advantage of an event that already had everyone one focused on U.S.-U.K. Relations(no, not the oil spill): they had the launch party at an East Village pub during the U.S.-England World Sup Soccer match. A perfect match (excuse the pun): the World Cup is not only an extremely popular event, in the case the pub was guaranteed to be full of Brits and Americans, the site’s target. We shouldn’t forget how beneficial major cultural events can be to our businesses, even if they don’t seem at first glance to have anything to do with, say, soccer (or should I say football?). DateBritishGuys.com took their fun concept, and made it even more fun, by linking it with a popular event, and providing free beer (always a winner) and cute T-shirts reading “BRITISH MEN WANTED” for the ladies. And I don’t know how successful the site will be, but it certainly seems to have gotten off on the right foot.