This image was lost some time after publication.

Because Mark Darcy is not a real person (do you hear me, ladies? He's a fictional character, okay?), Marie Claire magazine is taking to the streets to find the perfect match for your adorable inner spinster. All smart, successful, handsome, single (and potentially nonexistent) men have the chance to become Marie Claire's "Ben Jones", the real-life counterpart to the single woman's plucky heroine, Bridget Jones.

From: Marie Claire Editorial Assistant
To: [redacted director of redacted organizaton in Chicago]
Subject: Marie Claire magazine

I'm an editorial assistant at Marie Claire magazine, and I'm working on a feature story called The New Man, which is the reason I'm getting in touch. The piece will be a zeitgeisty feature about men who are being dubbed "Ben Jones" i.e., the counterparts to Ms. Bridget Jones. Basically, the term translates to very eligible bachelors: smart, good-looking, financially secure men, who, if the right women were to come along, might be ready to settle down. The most recent census data shows that 1 in 3 men between the ages of 30-34 has never been married...as compared to just 9% in 1970. So I'm doing my duty to Marie Claire's readership by finding 10 such men from 10 different U.S. cities, such as Chicago, to feature in the article.

This sounds like an important breeding opportunity...

I thought your organization would be a great source for these men. If you know of any men who match the above criteria, I would greatly appreciate it if you could pass along their contact information to me or if you could have them contact me. It would be a very minimal time requirement: a short interview, submitting a photo or two. And, should he be chosen as the "new man" from Chicago, the magazine would set him up with a protected email address (i.e. yourfirstname@marieclaire.com) here any woman who was interested could get in touch, and you would be under no obligation to reply, unless you wanted to do so.

Any help in finding Chicago's "new man" would be greatly appreciated.

Best Wishes,
[redacted]

With public service projects like this, I may never have to freeze my eggs.