Women are buzzing about Bumble on social media —- but not in a good way.
After many took to TikTok to complain about new billboards that say “A Vow Of Celibacy Is Not The Answer,” the dating and networking app on Monday said it will remove the ads in New York, Los Angeles and other big cities.
The anti-celibacy messaging had sparked reactions over the weekend from women who found the advertisement distasteful and even hostile toward those who choose to refrain from being married or engaging in sex.
“Are you not aware that you can be a woman who dates males and is still celibate?” one TikTok user named Emangetalife asked in her reaction video, which got over 78,000 likes. She also said the ad suggests women owe sex to men who take them out on dates, which could be dangerous, considering the rise in violence against women. According to data from the United Nations, an estimated 736 million women — almost one in three – have been subjected to sexual violence in their lifetimes, up from 243 million before the pandemic.
“You’re delegitimizing our celibacy because you want males to have more access to our bodies,” she added.
Another content creator named Shawnda shared a TikTok directed to the advertising and marketing director at Bumble.
“For y’all to be an app that’s all about women making the first move, and now you’re telling the women what move to make —- who came up with this idea?” Shawnda asked in her video with almost 40,000 likes.
Over the past year, Bumble has undergone several changes within the company. Lidiane Jones, former CEO of Slack Technologies, took over as Bumble’s CEO in January after Bumble’s founder Whitney Wolfe Herd stepped down and assumed the role of executive chair. Shortly after Jones’ takeover, Bumble announced it would cut about 350 roles following “disappointing first-quarter revenue,” Reuters reported. And Bumble made headlines once again last month after rolling out its new “opening moves” feature, which broke with its original requirement of women making the first move and allows men to start a conversation by answering a question on their match’s profile.
The controversial billboards were a part of Bumble’s new global campaign as they revamp their identity and dating strategies. Just this month, Bumble’s founder revealed at The Bloomberg Tech Summit that the company is considering implementing AI personas to help users get more compatible matches and create more healthy relationships.
Many women aren’t ecstatic about Bumble’s recent changes — with some even saying they’ve deleted the app. Another TikTok user, named Anna Bash, posted an altered photo of the advertisement with the wording, “We’re In Our Misogyny Era.”
“We are so done,” Bash says in her TikTok, which has more than 11,000 likes. “Until men change we are done — and Bumble is directly contributing to the problem and directly contributing to our decision to be celibate and to move away from men.”
Bumble appears to have paid attention to the backlash. A spokesperson for the company said in a statement that it included language around celibacy as “a response to the frustrations of dating,” and Bumble understands that “rather than highlighting a current sentiment towards dating, it may have had a negative impact on some of our community.”
“This was not our intention and we are in the process of removing it from our marketing campaign, and will continue to listen to the feedback from our members,” the spokesperson added.
