Tinder is a dating app we’re sure many people are familiar with. For those who aren’t, it’s an app that lets you swipe left or right to show your like/dislike of a person’s profile, and if you both “like” each other, you will match and you will be able to chat with one another. That being said its potential has seen use by third-parties who might not necessarily be interested in love.
Recently at SXSW, it seems that Tinder was used to help promote the movie Ex Machina which premiered over the weekend during the event. How they did it was they created a Tinder account using Swedish actress Alicia Vikander’s photo (she also stars in the movie). From there if she matched with anyone at the event, a conversation would be struck up in which she would ask the other person some questions.
These questions include asking whether they have been in love, what makes them human, after which they would then be directed to her Instagram page which then reveals that it was a publicity stunt all along. While it is a pretty clever use of Tinder, some have expressed their frustration as it does seem a bit deceitful.
In fact last month Tinder stated that they did not appreciate companies or governments using their platform to promote their agenda. Recently the Brazilian government used Tinder to help promote AIDS awareness, but those profiles were deleted after they were discovered.