Hot vax summer is in the rearview, and all that thirsty, pent-up demand for human contact seems to have cooled over the past two years. In fact, a phenom on the opposite end of the personal interaction scale has taken its place: dating burnout.
So says Match in a new campaign from agency Mojo Supermarket launching in New York and Los Angeles with the tagline “Adults Wanted.” The out-of-home ads are meant to hype the app as a place where grownups already gather and serve as a recruiting tool for more of the same.
According to Match’s findings from its annual Singles in America survey, less than half of young single consumers feel excited or enthusiastic about dating, with 64% of online daters reporting they feel burned out in their search for hookups and love.
The app points to the obvious problems like ghosting, catfishing and gaslighting, putting the blame squarely on emotional immaturity as the culprit for the current wave of ennui.
“Toxic dating stories are a dime a dozen, and as riveting as they are over brunch, they don’t exactly inspire anyone to date,” Scott Mai, account director at Mojo Supermarket, said in a statement. “And that’s no fun. Because dating can and should be fun.”
“Adults Wanted,” part of the brand’s ongoing “Adults Date Better” umbrella, borrows its design style from vintage help-wanted ads. It aims to attract lapsed daters and others who may be discouraged but are “looking to revive the joy dating can bring, but also aren’t willing to compromise on their basic wants and needs. Cause, ya know. They’re adults,” per the brand.
Match wants to encourage people to get out on in-person meetups, off the app, because “dating shouldn’t be a chore,” according to Amber Harrison, vice president of brand.
The outdoor installations have lines like “Fall stupidly in love with someone who’s actually really smart,” “Stay out late with someone who also goes to bed early” and “Forget flowers. Find someone who buys you tampons.”
The billboards, wild postings and digital ads have been placed in high-traffic areas around Los Angeles, Brooklyn and New York’s MTA subway system.
“Adults Wanted” picks up the thread of 2022’s “conscious dating” trend, as outlined in the brand’s Singles in America survey. Helen Fisher, chief scientific advisor, said that single folks have transformed in the post-pandemic landscape.
“They’ve sobered up—they’ve shifted their priorities and are dating smart. It’s healthy dating,” Fisher said in the study.
