‘Dave is single’ billboard creator talks about how his dating life is going

After two months and more than 20 first dates, the viral “Dave is single” billboard in West Philly has come down. And David “Dave” Cline, the man behind the now-famous billboard, is relieved to see his $1,154 joke come to an end after receiving thousands of DMs and plenty of attention.

What started as lighthearted fun turned into a viral sensation, reaching beyond Philadelphia and putting Cline on the radar of singles across the globe.

The 28-year-old West Philadelphia resident wasn’t exactly looking for love when he rented the billboard back in July. After struggling with dating apps, he decided to have fun with a bold move: he plastered his face — and his cat, Peach — on a billboard in the Grays Ferry neighborhood with the message: “Dave is Single!”

Soon, it captured the attention of Philadelphians, national media publications, Drew Barrymore, and even singles as far away as Ghana and Indonesia.

Cline soon found his inbox overwhelmed with thousands of DMs. But it was those from Philly-area women and nonbinary people with a straightforward plan for a date that caught the billboard man’s eye.

“I just do not have the time to [message back and forth] with like 30 people [on Instagram] — I would have to quit my job and just text people all day.”

Over the next two months, his 20-plus first dates included walks around Clark Park and Rittenhouse Square, a visit to the Academy of Natural Sciences, a comedy show in West Philly, and dinners and drinks at spots like Local 44 and Dante & Luigi’s. He even went on a few sponsored dates, with Prime Rib at Live! Casino & Hotel, Xfinity Live!, and Four Walls Whiskey reaching out to him.

Despite the volume of dates, Cline said, dating remains a challenge. Of the 20 first dates, only three to five led to second meetings. And some came with negative experiences, including ghosting and rudeness.

“You’d think that with this kind of notoriety you probably wouldn’t get ghosted — but dating is still tough even for the billboard guy who has thousands of DMs,” Cline said. “It’s hard; it stinks, and your feelings still get hurt.”

But Cline has made some solid connections and continues dating, though he keeps much of his personal life private, posting only about sponsored dates from local businesses that reach out to him.

As a more introverted person, Cline said, having an activity or getting a drink helped ease the pressure on the dates. “I think the dates where I’m being myself the most are the dates where I have the most fun, and it’s the dates where people seemed the most interested in seeing me again,” he said.

His advice for a first date? Don’t overthink it.

“Dating, right now, so much of it is like we have to have this thing we do — but [you can] just go do a lap around Rittenhouse and then see how the vibes are,” he said. “Make it as comfortable as you can for yourself and it’ll make it easy to not feel like this is a huge commitment that your whole day has to lead to — that way you don’t psych yourself out.”

The DMs have slowed down and Cline admits that he isn’t “built for going viral or being locally famous,” and that he’s still single. But the experience has shifted his perspective on dating.

Before the billboard, Cline wasn’t feeling too good about his dating prospects. His last long-term relationship ended in his early 20s, and he thought it was “nearly impossible for me to have a date where someone would want to see me again.”

“I am unique. I zig where other people zag, and I’ve been called weird my whole life,” he said. “I thought it was going to be very hard to find someone, but the billboard being so successful, it made me realize there are people that just vibe with my weirdness — that it was possible.”

For Cline, the best part of this experience has been the overwhelmingly positive feedback. He feared “real life was going to reflect the worst parts of the comment section,” but instead, he’s been met with praise and encouragement from strangers.

“I was afraid people weren’t going to get it,” he said. “[But] the fact that a lot of people have identified with that and just are so on board and think that it’s funny and relatable, I don’t know if I could come up with a better measure of success for what this was.”