Bumble Removes Celibacy Billboard After Backlash
Here’s what Gen Z women have to say…
Following the news of its dating app revamp, Bumble faces backlash.
In early May, news broke that the dating app for women would remove its key feature: women rizizng first. The moment signaled a revamp for the app and the industry ate it up. That was until a Bumble billboard was spotted in LA…
Ima make a video on it, but Bumble doing a campaign attempting to shame celibacy/abstinence is an unserious way to tell the public yall are nervous.
It’s also a very offensive way to tell your female customers that you’re profiting off of their legs being open.
— Cindy Noir✨ (@thecindynoir) May 12, 2024
Bumble need to fuck off and stop trying to shame women into coming back to the apps.
Instead of them to run ads targeted at men telling them to be normal. pic.twitter.com/y6XVFXanaB
— Tinkerbell 🧚🏾♀️✨️| r-WNC (@BlobWithAGob) May 13, 2024
The billboard meant to poke fun at celibacy hitting trend status amongst Gen Z women, unintentionally placed blame on its target audience. However, the team missed a key point: many Gen Z and Millennial women have chosen celibacy after key events like the overturning of Roe v. Wade, for religious reasons and more.
Bumble is mad women aren’t dating anymore pic.twitter.com/ELWE95oUb6
— meh (@itstuff48) May 11, 2024
Following the negative response, the dating app released a statement via LinkedIn taking ownership — and brands should take note.
Check out the statement below.
To our beloved Bumble Community:
We made a mistake. Our ads referencing celibacy were an attempt to lean into a community frustrated by modern dating, and instead of bringing joy and humor, we unintentionally did the opposite. Some of the perspectives we heard were: from those who shared that celibacy is the only answer when reproductive rights are continuously restricted; from others for whom celibacy is a choice, one that we respect; and from the asexual community, for whom celibacy can have a particular meaning and importance, which should not be diminished. We are also aware that for many, celibacy may be brought on by harm or trauma.
For years, Bumble has passionately stood up for women and marginalized communities, and their right to fully exercise personal choice. We didn’t live up to these values with this campaign and we apologize for the harm it caused. So, here’s what we’re doing: We’re removing these ads from our global marketing campaign. Bumble will be making a donation to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, among other organizations, as a part of our ongoing efforts to support the work being done around the world to support women, marginalized communities, and those impacted by abuse. We will also be offering these partners this billboard space to display an ad of their choice for the duration of our reserved billboard time.
Please keep speaking up and telling us how we can be better. We care about you and will always be here for you.
With love and sincere appreciation,
Bumble 💛
While you’re here, does self-pleasure go against the “celibacy rules?”
For more on celibacy, read our op-ed on why hookup culture is in its flop era.
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