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Dating app Hinge has found plenty of creative ways to kill off its furry mascot in its “Designed to Be Deleted” campaign, which positions the brand as a way to find real love instead of temporary connections.
The fifth iteration of the platform uses real dating success stories to show its mascot, Hingie, being rewarded for its sacrifice in the afterlife.
Created by agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland, the film kicks off with a real couple’s moment of happiness, sending Hingie flying into the afterlife to be judged by a heavenly character called The Oracle.
Played by actor and comedian Patti Harrison, The Oracle welcomes more recently deceased app icons and reads about their deeds in a storybook. The illustrations are also based on real stories of blossoming love, including a couple bonding over a mutual interest of bowling and two medical students deciding to delete the app after sharing nachos.
The Oracle quickly becomes overwhelmed by the parade of Hingies that were maimed in ways representing the dates they facilitated: impaled by frisbee, stuffed into a pizza box or melted on a beach chair. The blend of dark humor and absurdity is designed to appeal to the app’s Gen Z and millennial audience.
“Imagining the post-deletion existence of Hingies unlocked a really exciting creative territory for us,” Wieden+Kennedy Portland art director Maggie Paris and copywriter Ellen Miller Schneider told ADWEEK. “With incredible collaborators along for the ride, the afterlife became a delightful reality: Our director, Bine Bach, brought an incredibly detailed vision, adding tons of elevated humor to the world, and Patti’s performance implanted permanent smiles on our faces that have yet to fade.”
“Designed to Be Deleted” launched in 2019 as a way to establish Hinge as the more serious option in the cluttered dating app landscape. Since then, Hinge and competitors such as Tinder have ramped up efforts to reach generations fatigued by app-based dating.
Hinge’s new campaign will run on YouTube and across social media channels in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia starting April 9. It will also hit streaming platforms throughout the month, running through early summer.
