Bumble admits it "made a mistake" with controversial billboard ads

The dating world can be tricky territory – sometimes it's hard to master the right marketing tone to get singles swiping. No dating app is currently more familiar with the intricacies of the dating world than the team behind Bumble, which recently faced online backlash for its controversial ads on the topic of celibacy. 

Following the online uproar, Bumble has since apologised for the careless ad campaign, calling it a "mistake". The best billboard ads are typically memorable, but Bumble seems to have overstepped the mark, backtracking on the provocative ads by removing them altogether.  

The campaign centres around a now-deleted ad featuring a woman who swears off of intimacy and joins a convent. When a handsome gardener catches her eye, she breaks her vow of celibacy and hops onto Bumble, finding salvation in the dating app. (Ah, if only it were that simple.)

Accommodating the off-key ad was a series of equally obtuse billboard ads featuring phrases such as "You know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer" and "Thou shalt not give up on dating and become a nun". While the intention was likely playful, many highlighted the reductive nature of the ads, presenting casual flings as a fix-all solution to relationship woes – not quite the empowering tone that Bumble was aiming for. 

There were a host of reasons why the ads received such strong backlash, namely the challenges of reproductive rights, the societal pressure to have sex and the rights of women to their bodily autonomy. The ads were also seen to stigmatise asexual people and those who actively choose celibacy, going against Bumble's intersectional ethos. 

The brand was inevitably forced to make a statement apologising for its oversight. "We made a mistake" the statement reads, "Our ads referencing celibacy were an attempt to lean into a community frustrated by modern dating". In response, Bumble has committed to making a donation to the National Domestic Violence Hotline among other organisations, offering their now barren billboard spaces to these important charities. 

For a dating app campaign that won our hearts, check out the whimsical hinge ad that celebrates the deletion of the app. If you're after some billboard advertising that's worth the love, take a look at Cheetos' traffic-stopping billboard.