Oh the dating game. Everyone knows how hard it is these days; even well-known people – yes, you Ulrika – struggle and resort to baring their souls on national TV by signing up to Celebs Go Dating.
For mere mortals, the choice is huge: Tinder, Plenty of Fish, Hinge, Grindr, Match, Bumble, and Safer Date are just some of the mainstream ones, then you’ve got the likes of DiaperMates, FatBastardDating, Meet-an-inmate and DateMyPet for the more, er, “niche” market.
So, how do they all achieve standout? Badoo, one of the world’s largest dating apps with a community of millions across the world, is attempting to do just that by launching a global campaign titled Let’s Fix Dating, as part of the site’s aim to make modern dating more enjoyable and less stressful.
Apparently, nothing says romance like monosyllabic messages, unsolicited pictures and catfishing (well, that’s what it says here anyway) and dating app users the world over will recognise these seemingly ubiquitous behaviours, but it seems not all dating apps are built equally.
You see, Badoo claims to have features specifically designed to fix them, including the ability to clearly state your intentions; rude message detector; and ‘clips’ feature – which allows members to express their personality through 15-second videos [not too sure how much personality you can get over in 15 seconds, but hey, they try].
So, in an effort to show just how ridiculous dating app behaviours are, Let’s Fix Dating features a series of playful, relatable 20-second vignettes backed by comedic French music and designed to bring these ways into the real world – and how Badoo can solve them.
One film shows a man handing out large phallic-style aubergines in a café, a move which raises a few eyebrows among the diners. It concludes with the strapline “Dating’s much better without the unwanted pictures.”
Another shows a young woman arriving at her man’s house, dressed in a coat. When he opens the door she also opens her coat to reveal she is only wearing lingerie. From inside the house, the guy’s mother asks: “Is she here yet” and the film cuts to the excruciating scene of the couple sitting round the dinner table with the bloke’s parents, while the young woman has her coat firmly done up. The strapline reads: “Dating’s better when you are on the same page.”
Content production company Untold Fable collaborated closely with the Badoo’s in-house creative team, using real dating app behavioural insights to develop scenarios and scripts, then led every stage of production, shooting in multiple locations in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The 15-second, 30-second and 60-second vignettes are rolling out across Europe on social channels this month.
Badoo global head of creative Luke Crisell said: “We believe dating should always be fun and we’re on a mission to discourage any expectation or behaviour that stops dating from being exactly that. Badoo’s new creative showcases bad dating behaviours we discourage by putting them in real-life scenarios.”
Untold head of editorial and creative Fable Morag Bruce added: “Collaborating with Badoo on Let’s Fix Dating was a blast. From exploring data-led scenarios and debating scripts, to casting diverse talent from our global network and shooting in Sofia, every stage of partnership was key in getting to a playful campaign that speaks to daters everywhere.”
So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office?
Actually, we enjoyed this campaign, although whether that is because everywhere else we look there is war, death and destruction is a moot point. However, the vignettes did raise a smile – no small achievement these days – despite the fact that the humour is decidedly “continental”.
As we’ve said before, we are all loved up here at the Decision Marketing Nerve Centre. Even so, if that goes tits-up, we’d likely give Badoo a crack.
Decision Marketing Adometer: A “we’ll give peace a chance” 10 out of 10
