There is a hilarious moment during the second season of the hit TV series Ted Lasso when Rebecca is persuaded by Keeley to try a new dating app called Bantr. Its unique selling point is that connections are made through conversation, not photos, and so we watch Rebecca musing romantically on the Austrian poet Rilke with a mystery date.
Now Bumble, the women-first dating and social networking app, is operating their own real-life version of it, partnering with Apple TV+ to make Bantr, once a fictional app become a real one.
“What someone looks like is only a small part of the story, there is so much more to learn about a potential partner than just appearances,”
explains Bumble’s APAC Communications Director, Lucille McCart.
“In fact, our most recent research found that three in five of Bumble users are now prioritising emotional availability and a quarter care less about a partner’s physical appearance.”
Ted Lasso’s message is all about the shallowness of judging books by their covers, so the idea of an app that gets someone involved through conversation rather than looks fit perfectly into the show’s storylines. But it seems to be working well in real life too. Bumble report that people really like being able to make conversation without being influenced by a photo.
“Dating is meant to be fun, and this is a fun new way to make the first move,”
says McCart.
“It’s a fun way to encourage people to connect with their matches on a deeper level where they can gauge compatibility on shared interests and personality rather than focusing on the physical.”
The Bumble app works as a Live Chat every Thursday night at 7pm local time. Daters are invited to Bantr Live which once you enter the game, connects you with another player automatically, at random. This person will match up with your location, age and gender preference, but you won’t be able to see them for three minutes. It’s a way to encourage dates to connect with someone they might not have considered before.
To help daters break the ice and bring their best chat, Bumble encourages some fun conversation openers like ‘Would you rather fight a bear or shark?’. ‘What is the worst thing you ever did that your parents caught you doing when you were a teen?’. ‘Tell me; what’s the most extreme dare you’ve ever accepted?’.
For details: https://bumble.com/en-us/the-buzz/bumble-ted-lasso-bantr-live
What Would Ted Lasso Do? How Ted’s Positive Approach Can Help You (Uncommon Publishing) is available as at https://tinyurl.com/txhb24xj
