Shifting Power Dynamics By Strengthening Women Empowerment Through Dating App

The social network cum dating app is actor Priyanka Chopra’s maiden venture as an investor for which she has partnered with the Texas headquartered brand Bumble Trading Inc. 

BBDO India’s new ad campaign for the social network app Bumble has hit the television, OTT, and digital space in the country. The ad agency, through the campaign, has tried to re-establish the age-old maneuverings of dragging up the social status of women in a subtler yet impactful way. Priyanka Chopra is the brand ambassador for the campaign specially made for the Indian market.

After Bumble released its foray into the Indian market, the competition will further heat up. There are already rivals like Tinder, Happn, TrulyMadly, and Woo who are trying to chase users in the crowded market.  It isn’t easy for the dating apps to win over the Indian users as the dating culture here functions in an extremely uncanny way unlike the western world. Since Bumble allows women to make the first move, the question is will it be able to make the app more attractive as it claims in its ad campaign, glorifying the womanhood in the most modern way.

About The Ad

Actor turned investor Priyanka Chopra has portrayed a few classic vignettes in Bumble’s debutant Indian 1:29 minute empowerment-themed ad campaign. The intention of the ad is to change the dating status quo and frame the female empowerment through the app with the hashtag #EqualNotLoose. In the ad we can see how the female protagonist aims to fight gender stereotypes that stop the women from pursuing professional and relationships goals. Priyanka can be seen as a competent boss, a girl looking for love, a wild fitness freak, and someone who believes in equal love (as seen in the ad – male partner participating in domestic duties like cooking).

There are many having varied set of opinions about the advertisement. Several, through their Twitter handle, criticized the ad campaign tagline which says ‘equal not loose’.

What kind of line is #EqualNotLoose ? What is loose? Why loose? What’s wrong with being loose? Are women not loose? Is being loose something bad? @bumble

— harish iyer (@hiyer) January 15, 2019

. @bumble ‘s campaign purports to be free of misogyny & patriarchy. Yet its slogan is #EqualNotLoose — I’m just going to leave that here to sink in, okay?

— Narayani Basu (@narayani_basu) January 15, 2019

We further reached out to Sadhana Karwal, Co-Founder and CEO, Brand Bazooka Advertising Pvt. Ltd. to hear her opinion on the ad. She said,”Bumble was founded by Wolfe Herd who describes it as a ‘feminist dating app’. It does empower women as only they can make the first move. 
But what I found puzzling is the word ‘loose’. In this day and age of slut-walk, it’s a pretty anti-feminist word. Perhaps the communication is tailored for Indian sensibilities. Why ‘not loose’? Is it to counter Tinder which is perceived as more liberal and permissive?”
“I found the film engaging. Priyanka Chopra carries it off well, and the soundtrack is peppy and nice, though it doesn’t exactly spell out what Bumble is or does. The signoff ‘The social network by women, for everyone’ is a bit, well, loose,” she adds.

Aninda Gupta, Marketing Manager, Saint Gobain Gyproc, says, “The ad, with the hashtag #EqualNotLoose, aims to break gender stereotypes.
It speaks on women empowerment with women must make the first move to initiate conversation. I liked the treatment of the creative with Priyanka Chopra-Jonas’s series of vignettes plus the soundtrack of you-go-girl anthem ‘Good as Hell’.”

Our Take

The ad, we can say, definitely puts down the age-old stigmas without demeaning either of the genders. The ad is surely for a much-evolved urban audience but then India is a complex market with many niche-mini markets. Thus, the campaign can appeal such a niche audience like women living in the urban settlements. Taking into consideration India’s coy audience, who lives in tier II cities, dating apps might still have to go a long way to woo the users.  Talking about the thematic space, the campaign celebrates different definitions of love that might can give an edge to Bumble over other contemporary players as the app does not limit itself as a dating app and let the user go beyond one relationship. Also, Lizzo’s soundtrack ‘Good as Hell’ syncs well with the ad and highlights the intention of the campaign. Despite the naysayers, women are achieving their dreams, which is well-communicated through the campaign.