Bumble's Ad Campaign Faced Backlash For Being Insensitive. Gen Z And Millennials Increasingly Prefer Real-life Interactions, Citing Frustrations With Dating Apps.
Bumble executives didn't anticipate the extent to which their turnaround ad campaign would sting Gen Z and millennials. The dating app faced major backlash this week after running billboard ads targeted toward women with anti-celibacy messages, including "you know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer."
The campaign backfired significantly, with women taking to TikTok, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) to express how offensive they found Bumble's new ads. Critics argue that Bumble ignored the ongoing struggle for women's reproductive rights, the trauma many women experience that affects their ability to enjoy casual intercourse, and the ads' reinforcement of a patriarchal view of women as objects for men's pleasure.
The campaign was a key part of Bumble's turnaround plan after 70% of women surveyed by the app reported dating app burnout. In addition to the controversial ads, Bumble made changes to its platform, such as removing the requirement for women to make the first move and introducing AI dating concierges to help filter matches.
Even before Bumble's debacle, many Gen Z and millennials had criticized the dating app experience on social media platforms like TikTok. According to an October 2023 study by Axios and Generation Lab, 79% of college students and Gen Zers prefer in-person interactions over regular dating app usage.
Despite a 16% year-over-year revenue increase in 2023, Bumble announced plans to lay off 30% of its workforce in preparation for a brand relaunch aimed at appealing more to younger users, CEO Lidiane Jones stated during a February earnings call. Meanwhile, Hinge has encouraged Gen Zers to embrace the "cringe" of online dating.
Bumble's latest misstep exemplifies why many younger users are logging out of dating apps for good. Fortune spoke with several Gen Zers and millennials to uncover the primary reasons for this trend.
Max Gomez, a 24-year-old communications professional from Brooklyn, describes dating apps as a "wasteland." He believes the user pool has declined and that Gen Z is simply not using these apps as much anymore. Gomez also notes that apps have become reminiscent of social media platforms like Instagram, where users focus on curating perfect profiles rather than being authentic.
Louise Mason, a 42-year-old freelance marketing specialist from Doncaster, U.K., quit Bumble and Tinder due to receiving overly sexualized messages. Mason, who has been single since 2007, believes she deserves more than casual interactions and feels dating apps are often inappropriate for her goals.
Another significant issue is the push for paid memberships on dating apps. Users like Mason find it frustrating that many apps offer long-term memberships when the goal is to find a match quickly. Gomez highlights the "Rose Jail" theory on TikTok, suggesting that Hinge keeps the most compatible matches behind a paywall.
While some users are deterred by these factors, others are simply eager to return to real-life interactions. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it challenging for Gen Zers and millennials to make organic connections. Gomez and his friends have started hosting in-person events to create opportunities for real-life meetups.
Bumble acknowledged their mistake in a social media statement, pledging to remove the ads and make a donation to the National Domestic Violence Hotline and other organizations. Katya Varbanova, CEO of Viral Marketing Stars, suggests that Bumble's campaign aimed to generate controversy but ultimately crossed a line.