Tinder Ads Take on Dating App Skeptics and Haters

Dating apps have gotten a bad rap lately, so Tinder is taking on the skeptics with playful ads that flip the script on negative narratives about modern dating.   

Tinder has unveiled the latest chapter of its “It Starts With a Swipe” campaign by once again inviting daters to reconsider what they thought they knew about the app. Created by agency of record Mischief @ No Fixed Address, the new ads underscore how “it sucks to be wrong” about a lot of things, but “it’s great to be wrong about Tinder.” 

A man misjudges how much spicy food he can handle on date night. A couple arrives at a hotel for a romantic getaway and stumbles upon an unusual convention. Another pair of daters discover a surprising reveal at an art class. 

Each of these scenarios highlight the unexpected, chaotic, and humorous side of dating, made lighter by having found a special person on Tinder. 

“People often go on Tinder not knowing what to expect and find themselves meeting cool people. It feels really good to be pleasantly surprised,” Stephanie Danzi, svp of global marketing at Tinder, told ADWEEK. 

The campaign launches in the U.S. on Dec. 26 and will roll out globally over the next few months. It coincides with a busy period for online dating from January until Valentine’s Day, when previously, Tinder has seen 2.1 million more messages and 298.4 million more ‘likes’ sent per day internationally compared to the rest of the year’s average. 

During this peak season, fellow Match Group-owned app Hinge is also running a campaign to entice new users. 

Tinder’s message remains consistent: the app works. According to its own data, a new relationship starts on Tinder every three seconds. 

“If you hear someone share a Tinder success story, they’ll often start by saying, ‘It’s a funny story; we met on Tinder.’ It’s this disbelief, which is ironic, because it’s how so many people meet,” Danzi said.