1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,200 Hi everyone, Welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,160 culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,600 media, the creator economy and the digital space. 4 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,960 Every Monday through Thursday. I'm your host, Lauren Meisner, 5 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,880 the founder of the youth digital media brand Centennial World. 6 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:18,160 Welcome back to Mini Scroll, everyone. 7 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,240 I am in my Fashion Week outfit. Well, I have been the last two 8 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:24,160 days, but this was the first day that I was like, dressed by a 9 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,320 brand. So that's why I might look a 10 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:29,200 little bit fancier, but it was actually my last day at Fashion 11 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:31,840 Week. So Alex is going to something 12 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:35,480 later this week for us. And then that is it. 13 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:37,560 A wrap on Fashion Week? Oh my God. 14 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:41,040 Also, I had such a wild experience last night. 15 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:44,160 I talked about it on TikTok. I've been vlogging my week for 16 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:47,480 you guys, so go follow me on TikTok if you don't, which I 17 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:50,000 don't think hardly any of you do, 'cause I don't even have 18 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,600 1000 followers. But I talked about in that vlog 19 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:55,560 and I put it on my reels as well on Instagram. 20 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:57,800 But last night I was at a fashion show. 21 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:02,200 It was a nighttime show and on one side, on my left was a man 22 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:05,319 who was like normal and we were making small talk and whatever. 23 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:06,880 And then on my right was another man. 24 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:11,000 And as soon as he sat down, I could just tell he was really 25 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:16,800 drunk and just so obnoxious and loud and Oh my God, he was 26 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:19,360 getting in my space so much. Like he would just like lean 27 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:22,720 over and like make jokes. And anyways, I went into detail 28 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:28,360 about it, but it escalated after a man on my left told him to 29 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:30,600 leave me alone because he just wouldn't get out of my space. 30 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:32,960 He kept talking to me, He kept, like harassing me and bothering 31 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:34,440 me. And at one point I was just 32 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:36,080 like, I don't know what's going on. 33 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:38,440 Basically saying like, please leave me alone. 34 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,960 And then that's one guy on my left said to him like, leave her 35 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:45,640 alone, dude, Like, stop. And that pissed him off. 36 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:49,520 And he ended up pushing me with all of his might. 37 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:53,560 Both arms, like, fully pushed me right into this other man, 38 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,800 'cause he was pissed, presumably, that we were telling 39 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,200 him to stop and to like, leave us alone. 40 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,960 And I fell backwards. It's like benches that you sit 41 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:04,760 on at Fashion Week. So there was nothing behind me. 42 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:06,480 I was falling backwards, thank God. 43 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,960 I caught myself and the guy helped me on my left, helped me 44 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,000 kind of like get back up. So I didn't fully fall on the 45 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,040 ground, but it was horrific. So that was Fashion Week Day 2 46 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:17,560 for me. But I just came back from a show 47 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:19,000 and that was an amazing experience. 48 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,960 I had a good time today, so let's get in to today's episode. 49 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:29,720 I was asked to speak about the Bumble Celibacy ad and apology, 50 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,160 and I was going to make it one of three stories today. 51 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:35,840 But as I started thinking about it and writing it out, I 52 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:37,880 realized there's just so much to say. 53 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,240 So this will be the only story for today and then tomorrow, 54 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,680 even if like the most happens overnight, I will just give you 55 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,400 guys as many stories as I need to because I still really want 56 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,760 to talk about the two other stories that I had for today. 57 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:51,840 But I just, it's going to be way too long. 58 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,720 So let's get into Bumble And this, I feel, deserves its own 59 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:56,880 episode. All right, So Bumble has 60 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:01,240 apologized for its anti celibacy ads that sparked backlash 61 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,160 earlier this week. So some background on these ads. 62 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,400 As part of a rebrand for Bumble, the company placed billboards 63 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,120 all around LA that poked fun at women choosing voluntary 64 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:14,440 celibacy, 1 Billboard said. You know full well a vow of 65 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,360 celibacy is not the answer and another said thou shalt not give 66 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:22,760 up on dating and become a nun. Understandably, the advertising 67 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,840 sparked intense backlash online, as obviously women are not 68 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,520 resorting to something as extreme as celibacy or like, 69 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,640 fully giving up dating for fun, right? 70 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:37,120 It's a it's a result of fearing for their safety and an 71 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:39,960 amalgamation of experiences that just makes them feel like 72 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:45,080 there's no point and I might as well just protect myself and my 73 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:50,640 peace and stop dating. So this campaign was part of a 74 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:54,200 bigger rebrand for Bumble. A few weeks ago, Bumble wiped 75 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:57,480 its Instagram account and started teasing a new vibe for 76 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,200 the brand. They posted a bunch of those, 77 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:05,120 like, dramatic painting inspired images of Victorian era women 78 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,400 who were tired of dating. You know, the ones they were 79 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,400 like, lounging around. It's the meme, right? 80 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,000 They posted a bunch of things that were like related to the 81 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,480 meme, you know, that baby that like Victorian era baby that's 82 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,480 like wrapped up like swaddled. And it's like me when I get home 83 00:04:20,519 --> 00:04:22,360 from work, like that's literally me. 84 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:26,360 That is actually me. So this style of imagery is a 85 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:30,160 very popular on TikTok. It's a meme that young people 86 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:33,560 recognize, obviously. And it was a very chronically 87 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:37,720 online move for the brand and prior to them announcing what 88 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,240 this actual rebrand was, which was essentially just some 89 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:46,120 feature updates and allowing in some cases men to message first, 90 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,640 which already sparked some backlash considering bumbles. 91 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,440 Whole thing is like you make the first move, women taking their 92 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,720 power back and dating. But anyways, people had high 93 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:58,120 hopes for this rebrand and it was like, Oh my God, they're 94 00:04:58,120 --> 00:04:59,600 really targeting Gen. Z. 95 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:03,600 And this is going to work because the imagery and the vibe 96 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,880 of their Instagram account of their socials, like it felt very 97 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,040 of the moment. It felt very on the pulse. 98 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,240 So there were high hopes, but like I said, those high hopes 99 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,480 came crashing down. I mean, crashing is a bit 100 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:18,640 extreme, but people, it didn't live up to what people I think 101 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:22,920 hoped for or expected. Based on the hype and I would 102 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:27,400 say based on the rebrand, like the imagery that they used, the 103 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,320 meme culture that they were leaning into, I would say that 104 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,400 this rebrand was targeted at Gen. 105 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:33,880 ZI. Think that makes sense. 106 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:35,440 Gen. Z probably has the biggest 107 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,640 cohort of single women, and there has been research over the 108 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,000 years that shows Gen. Z is actually less sexually 109 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,400 active and less interested in dating than previous 110 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:47,920 generations. And we also know that Gen. 111 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:52,520 Z is just not as enamored with dating apps and online dating as 112 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,640 previous generations were. I mean, I know for me, I was 113 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,560 single when Bumble came out in my early 20s and it was so 114 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:01,400 exciting. And Tinder too. 115 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,320 Like I was on those apps when they first came out and it was 116 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:06,560 literally just Bumble and Tinder were the only two. 117 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:08,440 I'm sure there were other dating apps, but those were the two 118 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,280 that people were using and it was so exciting. 119 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:13,160 It was like something we've never seen before. 120 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,800 It was so novel. And obviously that's just not 121 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:17,680 how Gen. Z feels about it because they've 122 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,680 grown up their whole dating life, they've had apps, so they 123 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:26,280 are a difficult generation to reach in general for brands, but 124 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,360 especially, I would say, for dating apps. 125 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,200 The two biggest theories that people have when it comes to 126 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:36,040 what went wrong here is the first people think there were no 127 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,880 women in the room of like conceptualizing this campaign. 128 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,160 And the second is they think Bumble didn't pre test this 129 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:48,040 campaign, which is I'm not super sure, I might get this slightly 130 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,640 wrong, but it's basically when they hire some external company 131 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:55,840 and they like bring it to market before a brand actually brings 132 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:59,360 it to market, you know, so they like test how consumers react to 133 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:01,160 it, engage with it and feel about it. 134 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:03,680 So those are the two biggest things that I've seen on like 135 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:07,040 marketing TikTok where people think that this went wrong, what 136 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:09,360 I think went wrong. I don't think there was 137 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:11,040 necessarily no women in the room. 138 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,520 I think there might have not been any Gen. 139 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:17,880 Zed women in the room. And the reason why I think that 140 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:22,000 is because to me, this feels like they tried to reach Gen. 141 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,760 Z by speaking to them as if Bumble is their friend. 142 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:28,080 Like they tried to jump in on Gen. 143 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:32,520 ZS very like specific and savage kind of humor that is very 144 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,360 unique to that generation. But the problem is that, and I 145 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:41,320 see marketers do this a lot, they lump millennials and Gen. 146 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:45,000 Z together as just one big generation of like young people. 147 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,240 And they don't realize that there are so many differences 148 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,840 between these two generations for millennials. 149 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,560 We loved when brands spoke to us like our friends. 150 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,320 Like if you think about the culture we grew up in, it was 151 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,320 pre social media, it was magazines like that was our 152 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:01,800 culture. That is how our formative years, 153 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,240 like our preteen and teen years, that's what that was all about. 154 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,360 And the concept of a magazine, especially like a preteen or a 155 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,680 teen magazine, is to be like your bigger sister who is 156 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,160 speaking to you like somebody who is older than you and is in 157 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:16,960 the know and is giving you advice, right. 158 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:19,720 That's kind of the whole thing, the whole shtick of those kinds 159 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,240 of magazines. So millennials, like we were 160 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:26,680 down as fuck to be told who we were, what we liked, what we 161 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:28,440 should be doing, what we should try. 162 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,600 And we were down for that. To come from like a friendly 163 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:35,480 quote, UN quote, voice Gen. Z is very different. 164 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:37,840 They did not grow up with that type of media. 165 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,360 They didn't grow up with magazines in that same way. 166 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:42,320 And they grew up with influencer culture. 167 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,600 They didn't grow up with people telling them what to do or who 168 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:47,520 to be. They grew up with this whole 169 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:51,320 platform like social media where you could find any type of 170 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,600 person that you thought was cool and you could, you know, follow 171 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,800 them and emulate them. And social media just gives you 172 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,640 such an opportunity to express yourself and find your own niche 173 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:04,200 where you don't have to be so uniform in the same way that 174 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,320 previous generations you know, who are reading all the same 175 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:08,640 magazines. We ended up being very much the 176 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,840 same. So as a result, Gen. 177 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:17,160 Z is not so interested in being spoken to in that way of, like, 178 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,240 telling them what to do. So the actual, like, ad copy on 179 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:22,960 these billboards just didn't hit 'cause it was quite literally 180 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,680 like, Thou shalt not like telling them what to do. 181 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:29,040 And they do not like that, even if it's like in a funny, quirky 182 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:30,480 kind of way. Gen. 183 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,320 Z doesn't want that, like, friendship vibe from brands. 184 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:37,200 Instead, they really want brands to address issues and they want 185 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:41,800 to feel supported and heard by the brands that they support. 186 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,120 They want to feel in control. So off the bat, this messaging 187 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:46,920 was always going to fall flat with Gen. 188 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,080 Z. And another big aspect of Gen. 189 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:54,000 Z is that they are a generation who are change makers and they 190 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,320 set boundaries. And we know this, We know we 191 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:00,400 talk about it all the time. Like there's so much 192 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:02,560 conversation about how Gen. Z has all these boundaries in 193 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:04,480 the workplace. And you know, it's the same old 194 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:06,120 thing. Millennials were entitled and 195 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:07,520 Gen. Z doesn't have a work ethic or 196 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:09,720 whatever. You know, every generation has 197 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,360 their thing when they're coming up and they're young, and the 198 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:14,880 older generations don't understand how they work. 199 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,240 But that's Gen. Z's thing, is that they have 200 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,760 these boundaries, right? So another aspect of why this 201 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:24,480 didn't work out is bumbles ads. They were making light of this 202 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,000 boundary, which is something that really defines Gen. 203 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,000 Z and is kind of their superpower. 204 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:33,920 However, the missing piece here that I have seen no one else 205 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:39,080 discuss is why dating has become worse for Gen. 206 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:42,960 Z women and I do believe that that comes down to Internet 207 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,920 culture. Young men now are so much more 208 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:51,280 likely to be exposed to misogynistic anti woman and in 209 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,280 cell ideology online than previous generations thanks to 210 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:58,480 the rise of social media and in particular in the last couple of 211 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:02,120 years TikTok. So previously men who wanted to 212 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:05,680 interact with that type of content engage in that kind of 213 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:07,840 ideology. They had to actively seek it out 214 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:12,240 on places like Reddit or 4 Chan or probably deeper darker places 215 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,120 on the Internet that I don't even know about. 216 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:17,280 But now when you're just scrolling your for you page, you 217 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,480 know you could be delivered content like that let's say 218 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:22,920 about looks maxing for example, right. 219 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:28,840 Which is not inherently anti woman but can open you up to the 220 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:32,160 red pill or even black pilled pipeline. 221 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:34,320 I mean how many of us like women? 222 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:36,080 I know most. It's mostly women that listen to 223 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:38,640 this podcast. How many of us are scrolling 224 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,480 TikTok And we see content like that ourselves, right? 225 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:43,320 Like, I've seen so many videos about looks maxing. 226 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,040 I did a whole podcast episode because I just kept getting 227 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,600 bombarded by content about looks maxing. 228 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:51,240 And if you Google looks maxing, like every major publisher has 229 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,160 covered it because it is so prevalent on TikTok. 230 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,600 Or if you think about a couple years ago, before he was banned 231 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,920 off of everything, like Andrew Tate was everywhere there for a 232 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:02,040 couple of months. You know, scrolling your free 233 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:03,560 page, you could not get off of it. 234 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:07,240 I mean, what about like, all those like, bro podcasts, right? 235 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,120 We're all exposed to that all the time now. 236 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:14,160 Whereas we would have literally never, especially as women, we 237 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:17,400 probably would have never been exposed to anything like that 238 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:18,760 before. TikTok. 239 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:23,240 So this constant exposure has made Gen. 240 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,440 Zed and Gen. Alpha men much more outwardly 241 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:28,840 misogynistic now. I don't want to get it twisted. 242 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:31,800 This is not me saying that Gen. Z or Gen. 243 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:36,120 Alpha are more misogynistic than previous generations, because I 244 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,000 think in many ways that's absolutely not true. 245 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:45,560 But I think it has become more socially acceptable to a follow 246 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,680 these role models quote UN quote who do espouse these types of 247 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,160 anti woman misogynistic in cell views. 248 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:57,600 And BI think boys and young men are more empowered than ever at 249 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:02,960 the moment to be outwardly anti woman because of how popular 250 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,520 this type of content is. And that doesn't even touch on 251 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:08,880 the fact that constantly being exposed to this type of content, 252 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,560 whether you're seeking it out or not or you believe in it or not, 253 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:17,400 like how that must be inherently changing the way that boys and 254 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:21,520 young men think about women, their attitudes towards women, 255 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:24,160 their behaviors towards women. Like I think a lot of it would 256 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,720 be subconscious and happening without them even realizing it. 257 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:31,480 The other side of that is this exposure to this type of 258 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:36,080 content, like I said, is not exclusive to a man's for You 259 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:39,280 page or a boys for you page. Women are being fed this too. 260 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:41,040 That's just how algorithms work, right? 261 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,000 It's like you like one video and they're like going to test the 262 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:45,880 waters and show you something else. 263 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:47,760 And it could be totally out of left field, but it will have 264 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,000 like some very slight connection to what you just liked. 265 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:55,320 So women are constantly also being fed all of this content 266 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:59,480 that is anti woman misogynistic in cell vibes that we would have 267 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:03,440 not known about necessarily prior to social media and 268 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:05,160 platforms like TikTok and Twitter. 269 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:10,680 So that has made young women more aware of how dangerous men 270 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:12,680 can be. And this is definitely a 271 00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:19,000 generalization, but I would say that young women of previous 272 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:23,200 generations were a little bit more ignorant to how dangerous 273 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:27,080 men could be and how unsafe they actually were around men. 274 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:31,040 And social media, particularly TikTok, has really lifted that 275 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,400 veil for the whole generation. And like I said, Gen. 276 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,840 Z, they're change makers, they set boundaries and they stick to 277 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:41,640 those boundaries. So the changing culture online 278 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,880 and how that is impacting young women dating right now, they're 279 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:47,280 setting a boundary for themselves. 280 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:49,960 They're saying we're not going to stand for men being so 281 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:54,240 violent towards us, so anti woman so misogynistic, we're not 282 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,280 going to stand for this many men like buying into the red pill 283 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,440 ideology, black pill ideology in sell stuff. 284 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,040 So to counteract that we're just going to stop dating. 285 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:08,000 So all of that to say, Bumble obviously made this big mistake 286 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:11,680 in their marketing and sure it might have been because there 287 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,880 were no women in the room or it might have been because they 288 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:16,800 didn't do pre testing on the campaign. 289 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,600 But what I think also happened is that Bumble didn't have a 290 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,360 strong understanding of why young women are putting up these 291 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:29,080 dating boundaries and the culture online that has fostered 292 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,840 those boundaries. I think that this campaign is a 293 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:37,560 fundamental misunderstanding of Internet culture and Gen. 294 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:41,720 Z Internet culture. So one day after the backlash 295 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:45,280 really exploded online, Bumble issued a statement and actually 296 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,040 apologized. So they wrote to our beloved 297 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:49,840 Bumble community. We made a mistake. 298 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,320 Our ads referencing celibacy were an attempt to lean into a 299 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,840 community frustrated by modern dating, and instead of bringing 300 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:58,840 joy and humor, we unintentionally did the 301 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,120 opposite. Some of the perspectives we 302 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:04,520 heard were from those who shared that celibacy is the only answer 303 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,600 when reproductive rights are continuously restricted from 304 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,880 others for whom celibacy is a choice, one that we respect, and 305 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,760 from the asexual community for whom celibacy can have a 306 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:17,680 particular meaning and importance which should not be 307 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:20,280 diminished. We are also aware that for many, 308 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:23,480 celibacy may be brought on by harm or trauma. 309 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,520 For years, Bumble has passionately stood up for women 310 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:29,640 and marginalized communities and their right to fully exercise 311 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:31,560 personal choice. We didn't live up to these 312 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,040 values for this campaign and we apologize for the harm it 313 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,080 caused. So this apology has actually 314 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:39,400 been received quite well as far as I've seen. 315 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:42,640 It was very quick, which we appreciate. 316 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:45,640 You know, the general consumer, if you sit on something for too 317 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:50,560 long, it makes us feel like you are conspiring with PR teams. 318 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,040 And like, we know we know that every brand and every big 319 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,120 celebrity influencer that apologizes has a team behind 320 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:58,960 them helping them, but it makes it feel more authentic if it's a 321 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,080 really quick apology. So it was very quick. 322 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,560 It was explained really well, like what they did wrong, why it 323 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:08,119 was wrong, who they hurt, what they said about being hurt. 324 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:12,040 And then they finished by saying what they're going to be doing. 325 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:14,359 So they said, we're removing these ads from our global 326 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,280 marketing campaign. Bumble will be making a donation 327 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:20,000 to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, among other 328 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,240 organizations as a part of our ongoing efforts to support the 329 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:26,200 work being done around the world to support women, marginalized 330 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:28,240 communities and those impacted by abuse. 331 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:32,040 We will also be offering these partners this billboard space to 332 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:34,960 display an ad for their choice for the duration of our reserved 333 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,320 billboard time. So of course, giving a tangible 334 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:42,600 example of how they're going to use this and make good from it 335 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:46,160 by giving that billboard space away and making those donations 336 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:49,400 in general, this was a very good apology. 337 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:52,600 I think this is the last misstep of this magnitude that we will 338 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:55,400 probably see from them. I don't think they'll do 339 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,360 anything like this ever again. I think they'll be much more 340 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:02,520 aware and much more conscious. And I think at the end of the 341 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:06,000 day, after getting an apology like that, that's all we can ask 342 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,920 for, right? Is just you stick to what you 343 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,120 said, which is this one against our values. 344 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:12,960 Let's get back to our core values. 345 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:15,480 All right, guys. Well, that's it for today. 346 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:19,440 I hope you enjoyed this little kind of like a mini breakdown, a 347 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,120 mini deep dive. As I said, I will have more 348 00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:24,840 stories for you guys tomorrow. OK, guys, thank you so much for 349 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:26,520 listening. I love you guys and I will talk 350 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:27,720 to you tomorrow. Bye.