Tinder Flirts With Tradition | Tinder's Latest Indian Ad
Posted 8 years ago
India has managed to garner herself a reputation of being a country that abides by tradition. Even though we live in an age dominated by technology, fashion and science, simple traditions like not returning a borrowed vessel empty, still manage to trickle their way into our day-to-day lives. No matter how full you are or how difficult a diet you’re on, some traditional households will damn near find it an insult to not eat something before leaving their home!
Besides its booming economy, the stark disparity between parts of India has resulted in their being quite a varied range of beliefs. Hence, almost all radically new ideas have to be adjusted to somehow accommodate the hugely varied Indian population. McDonalds came to India selling burgers with chutney in them! India is just too large and too profitable a market to ignore even with the walls set up by tradition. This is a fact that’s been demonstrated rather well by Tinder’s newest made-for-India ad campaign.
The ad portrays a mother giving her daughter her blessings to go out on a date with a Tinder match much to the surprise of the daughter. Watch the ad here:
https://www.facebook.com/TinderInd/videos/vb.520354671448421/575300302620524/?type=2&theater
Truth be told, it isn’t what I expected. It’s abundantly clear that Tinder is trying to break free of the taboos surrounding online dating in the country but it inadvertently seems to have made a case for itself as a matrimony website by trying fit in with tradition. The crux of the ad seems to come when the mother gives her blessings rather than at the point when the daughter gets a match which seemingly shows that Tinder is pushing this app to parents and kids alike!
“Pretty cool. I would say Tinder helped me meet my true partner. Just a swipe and talked to my partner's parents as well. It's very convenient as well. And super friendly at the same time” - Male, Punjab
Let’s get things clear. Tinder is a casual dating app, the concept of which is still looked at as an alien one in many traditional households across India.
“I think that concept is still developing in India. It'll probably take some time to get in.”- Male, Maharashtra
Based on the answers of 300 participants who watched the ad, some interesting statistics were unearthed. Only 32% had used the app of which 71% were males! This is one of the biggest hurdles that the app has had to cross. Of the test group, only 11% claimed to have had a bad experience but more importantly, only 1 of entire unhappy bunch was female.
Although it’s open to all adults, Tinder has been a revelation in the 18-24 age category. This comprises of a whole lot of fresh out of college, single-ready-to-mingle students and working professionals but despite the urbanization of our cities, tradition has seen male offspring’s allowed a much longer leash in terms of experimentation and risk-taking than female ones, especially at that age. As a result, the app is flooded with men with less than half the number of women available for them to find a match with.
Judging by the comments received, Tinder may have tried to ready itself for India, but India certainly isn’t ready for Tinder.
“It's a new concept and will take some time to take off successfully. Forget online dating, even dating is frowned upon by many parents.”- Male, Gujarat
“I think it increases risks of being cheated on and thus also increases chances of crimes in the country.” - Female, Assam
Many seem to like the boldness of the idea but the concept of setting up a date with a stranger without ever having spoken to them face to face is still considered to be risky and in some cases, wrong. Across the world, the app is used more often than not for hookups and casual one-off dates rather than finding the love of your life whereas in India ‘Not here for hookups. Just here to make friends’ seems to be a commonly used profile description. Seeing an ad that shows a relationship between a mother and daughter rather than the boy and girl really does raise some questions given the originally intended use of the app. In attempting to make the concept of dating more acceptable, has Tinder lost a hold of its identity?
“They haven’t mentioned the product at all” - Female, Maharashtra
“Startled by the Sanskari angle to Tinder.”- Male, Delhi/NCR