Hail Marry: She wants Super Bowl ad to find a hubby
Manhattan single needs to raise $3 million (she has only $2,999,000 to go)

Hunting for a hubby with a Super Bowl ad?
Oct. 24: TODAY's Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford talk about a woman who wants to look for a husband on a Super Bowl ad.
Today show

By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 12:13 p.m. CT, Fri., Oct. 24, 2008
Amy Borkowsky needs to find a good man, and she wants your help. Shes not asking for much, at least not by the standards of the mortgage industry. Just enough money to buy a personal ad during the Super Bowl.

OK, its a bit pricey: $3 million. But, Borkowsky points out, where else can she get the attention of 60 million American males, several of whom may be interested in meeting a 5-foot-6, 110-pound comedian and best-selling author (Amy's Answering Machine: Messages from Mom, Statements: True Tales of Life, Love, and Credit Card Bills) who is a member of MENSA and once won an artificial fireplace with a suggested retail price of $552 on The Price is Right?

Accepting donations
Borkowskys problem is that, even after checking under the couch cushions and returning a lip gloss, she cant scrape together the $3 million. To bridge the gap, shes started a Web site, superbowlsinglegirl.com, to advertise her quest and collect donations from a public that shes sure will have a deep and personal interest in helping her to find a nice man.

Im not looking for Mr. Perfect, she told a TODAY Show reporter Friday. Im looking for Mr. Perfect-for-Me.

On her site, shes more specific: My ideal man would have a big brain, a good heart and a really annoying mother. She adds that he would also have a creative side: I wouldnt rule out a creative accountant, unless his creativity resulted in federal charges.

On Friday, TODAYs Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford had fun talking about Borkowskys scheme after reading a story about her in the New York Post. That story notes that she has already collected $1,000 in donations and needs just $2,999,000 to buy her 30-second SWF-seeks-male-carbon-based-life-form ad. Oh, and she needs the money quickly; NBC, which is broadcasting the Super Bowl, has almost sold out all the ads.

On her Web site, Borkowsky writes that she also may hold a walkathon to raise funds. Maybe Ill walk from my apartment to Kleinfelds Bridal Shop.

Kathie Lees advice
Kotb, whose own search for Mr. Right has been a regular source of material on TODAY, introduced Borkowsky as This woman who is dying to find a husband.

Well on her way, Gifford said, a bit sarcastically. Shes probably a math whiz, too. Im sorry, theres a little bit of discrepancy between $1,000 and a million dollars. Give me her number. I will call her and talk to her. I am older and wiser now and I will talk to her.

Gifford added that she, too, has a dream that needs only money to bring it to life. I want to put my show on Broadway next year, but you need $12 million to do it, she said.

She then offered her own advice on finding a man: She should got o her local church or her local synagogue or her local bowling alley and meet a nice guy whos looking for a nice girl, she said.

You dont want someone who youre going to meet on a Super Bowl ad, Kotb added.

But Borkowsky will settle for someone she meets anywhere. She describes herself as over the bar scene and online matchmaking services.

The former advertising executive, who grew up on Long Island and lives in Manhattan, is coy about her age, which she says is somewhere between Carrie and Samantha. Kotb and Gifford did some mental math and decided that meant mid-40s, a guess that Borkowsky confirmed in a later interview.

Mom would approve
She says that her mother would have approved of her quest, which, she said, is totally serious. Borkowskys mother, who is deceased, was a classic worrier who constantly called her daughters (Borkowsky has one sister who was married, but is divorced) with motherly advice such as dont wear red bathrobes because shed heard that red is a gang color.

Her mothers phone messages were so classic that Borkowsky based a book and two CDs titled Amy's Answering Machine: Messages from Mom on them. My mother would have been really excited that I was finally taking some clear action to try and find a husband, she said.

Borkowsky launched her Web site on Monday. USA Today wrote a story about her earlier in the week, and the New York Post followed. On Friday, she squeezed in a phone interview for TODAYShow.com between spots on various radio shows. Next week, shes booked on The Tyra Banks Show.

Is she surprised at all the media attention?

In a way, it doesnt surprise me, she said. Everyone can relate to the search for a life partner, which is one of the most important decisions you can make. This is totally serious. I tried all the usual ways and havent met my Mister Right.

And the media arent the only ones calling. Borkowsky is also hearing from her girlfriends, and even women shes never met, who are interested in referrals to any men she meets with whom she doesnt connect.