Tinder this week launched its first video ad campaign, partnering with Bud Light to promote the beer brand's "Whatever, USA" contest. The campaign invites users to "swipe right" on Bud Light's Tinder profile to enter for a chance to win a trip to the as-yet-unnamed Whatever, USA. Bud Light will select about 1,000 users to attend this year's party, which is scheduled for the last week in May. In September 2014, the company held a huge event in the town of Crested Butte, Colorado (last year's Whatever, USA) and it sounded awful.
"There's a lot of synergies between the Tinder audience and the audience we're looking for," Hugh Cullman, Bud Light's director of marketing, tells AdWeek.
This marks the first time that Tinder has created a native video ad on its platform. The company says Bud Light's ads will show up after about "four or five" swipes. When users swipe right in approval, a promotional video will play directly in the app, though it will only be shown to people 21 and older. They'll then be directed to a dedicated web page where they can enter the contest.
It also marks Tinder's latest effort to monetize. Last month, the company launched a premium version, Tinder Plus, that offers a rewind button and, for users of a certain age, unlimited right-swipes. Tinder has previously partnered with Gillette to provide data on how clean-shaven men fare on the app, though it's taken a hard line on brands that try to advertise on its platform without permission. In February, the company shut down a Gap campaign because it hadn't been authorized, as well as an AIDS awareness campaign launched by the government of Brazil.