Donald MacInnes: Girls, if the guy comes from Cardiff, his wallet is a thing of wonder

Pringles were almost right: once you start quoting vox pops, you can’t stop. And I speak as a man who has guzzled wheelbarrows full of these elegant elliptical sacraments to the potato god.

So to vox pops, that odd semi-profession that sees people with clipboards and Stilton grins stop you in the street to ask (a) if you suffer from heartburn, what is your preferred remedy; and (b) if you think that Isis make one or two good points. Following on from last week’s tribute to working mums, this week I shall again go against my nature by quoting the results of another survey.

But first, I need to shoot the messenger. The email trumpeting the information was sent by a public relations operative called Brittany Burridge. Look, I know you should never make assumptions about someone’s cultural background purely because of their name (unless, of course, they are Giuseppe “The Grim Reaper” Palazzio), but Brittany’s name does put me in mind of some apple-cheeked Californian, a gal with a hot boyfriend called Chad and a gobful of snow-white teeth.

And, sure enough, when you check the phone number at the bottom of the email, it lists Brittany’s office as being outside the UK, in US area code 301, which represents part of California. However, on closer inspection, area code 310 also encompasses Compton, as in Straight Outta..., that breeding ground of Crips and Bloods, where the only time someone stops you in the street with a clipboard is to ask if you would mind if they (a) popped a cap and (b) in your motherflipping ass. So maybe Brittany has more street cred than I assumed. And maybe her words should be listened to.

Her paymaster is some dating site called whatsyourprice.com, the corporate slogan of which is: “Get the date by simply using your wallet”. Notwithstanding that this sentence suggests a modus operandi to one’s dating which could only be described as being “monster sleazy”, it also sounds only borderline legal. But given that the actual website (and not Brittany’s no doubt freelance desk) is located in Las Vegas, where certain activities are both legal and available with sequins, we mustn’t judge too harshly.

Anyway, Brittany tells me that they went through their members’ profiles to find out just how much British men would be willing to spend on a first date. It seems Cardiff chaps are the most generous, splurging £165. Glaswegians came second, with an initial outlay of £153 (that’s minus the cost of a cab to and from A&E). London men cough up only £122 (which would just about get them a starter at Nando’s and an Appletini). Leeds (£113) and Cambridge (£111) made up the rest of a top five which, if perhaps not proving anything about men’s financial commitment to love, certainly illustrates the geo-social rainbow represented by the members of certain American websites.