Having an affair? Now you've got an alibi

A new online service in France helps philanderers keep their infidelity secret.

Published September 14, 2007 5:28PM (EDT)

Are you thinking of having an extramarital affair, but worried that giving in to temptation might destroy your marriage, family and reputation? Some might say, "Don't do it." But that would just be so, how do you say, American.

Over in France, Regine Mourizard has figured out a way to use the skills she gleaned in her career as a private detective to help philanderers keep their affairs from ruining their lives: Alibila, a Web site offering a variety of alibis to help affairs remain undiscovered. As the site puts it, "Let whoever has never needed a small alibi for their little fibs cast the first stone!" (This is not to say, however, that Americans are any more moral -- for confirmation, check out the online dating service Philanderers.com.)

According to the Guardian, Alibila can provide everything from conveniently timed phone calls (for 19 euros, you can have someone call your marital home to summon you out of the house "on business") to documents for fake events (like a wedding invitation for a long-lost cousin that can give you an excuse to escape for a weekend). Alibila can print out receipts for nonexistent restaurants, provide merchandise from fake conferences, fabricate bills, even send postcards from places you were supposed to have been. But mind you, Mourizard does not forge documents -- she only produces them from nonexistent places (so be careful about where you say you went to dinner). And according to Spiegel Online, the company also makes clients "sign a document pledging not to use the bills to swindle employers or the government." How very moral.

Feeling overwhelmed by the logistics of the affair itself? Never fear. Alibila can help you arrange your illicit rendezvous (that sort of scheduling is probably not something to farm out to your secretary ... unless, of course, that's who you're sleeping with). It can also send flowers and gifts in your name.

Personally, I find the idea of marital infidelity so upsetting that I wouldn't mind grabbing some of Alibila's clients by their lipstick- (or cologne-) smeared collars and yelling, "If you're fucking someone on the side, buy your own goddamn flowers!" But I suppose that would be unprofessional. Instead I will point out what I find to be another disturbing aspect of Alibila: According to Mourizard, one of its purposes is to save people's marriages. Yes, that's right. According to the Web site, Alibila's services are perfect for people who are, as Spiegel puts it, "'suffocating' in their family situation who need some air, or for those in the throes of a 'passing adventure' who don't want to jeopardize their marriage." And Mourizard herself says that she decided to start the company after spending 20 years "keep[ing] people from doing what they wanted to do," according to Spiegel. "And then I thought, 'What if I help them do it, in a safe way?'" she's quoted as saying. In other words, thanks to Alibila, you can now have your family and eat your secretary, too. Mon dieu.


By Catherine Price

Catherine Price is an award-winning journalist and author of Vitamania: How Vitamins Revolutionized the Way We Think About Food. Her written and multimedia work has appeared in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, O: The Oprah Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Mother Jones, PARADE, Health Magazine, and Outside. Price lives in Philadelphia.

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