Is Tinder going the sanskari way

The dating app’s Indianised ad is being questioned by regular users.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the new Tinder ad is a commercial for a matrimonial service. It features a mother looking on, as her daughter gets ready for a Tinder date. “I right swipe this,” says the mother, approving of her daughter’s look, alluding to the gesture one makes on Tinder to approve of a match from a prospective partner. Its Facebook page features a couple where the girl can’t stop gushing about her journey from late night texts to the ring on her finger. This campaign is a far cry from Tinder’s campaign in the West, where it is unabashed in its portrayal as a place for ‘hooking up’ and casual dating. The makeover met with derision on social networking websites, hinting at making Alok Nath, the quintessential sanskaari babuji of Indian cinema, the brand ambassador for the app. Some inquired if Tinder was now in direct competition with the likes of Shaadi or Bharat Matrimony.com.

Tinder, however, says that the ad was meant to reflect the changing times in India. “Like every generation, the youth today have adopted strong Indian values while at the same time creating new norms and rejecting the ones that do not fit anymore in a shifting world order. The video is a depiction of this changing dynamic. A mother catching a glimpse of her daughter’s Tinder notification is reflective of the future of dating in India, where youth and parents are open and honest about dating,” says Taru Kapoor, head of Tinder India.

Interestingly, actress Lekha Washington and funny man Anuvab Pal had foreseen the ‘Indianisation’ of Tinder and come up with a sketch on the same when the app had just launched — one of them showed a boy bringing his father along on a date. Lekha doesn’t make a big deal of the shift though. “On the topic of being sanskari, matrimonial sites may be used for hooking up, who knows I imagine things are changing as far as meeting people is concerned. I’m very happy for anyone who gets anything out of these apps. I know a lot of people who have discovered a whole new world out there thanks to Grindr. Whatever works.”

From an ad perspective, Prahlad Kakkar explains, “This is a very Indian phenomenon. Lot of parents believe that if you want to go out with a guy, bring him home first. There’s a sense of responsibility they want to drill into the guy. Advertising has never broken new ground; advertising has only mirrored a trend that already exists. In a metro society, dating is a part of life; it’s not like this ad is reinventing the wheel. Tapping into the fact that it’s about time parents got into the act and that they can supervise it is what needs to be seen.”

Arun Iyer, COO of Lowe Lintas agrees with Kakkar, “There’s an attempt to legitimise the whole ‘let your children find their partners on Tinder’. In India to a certain degree, matrimonial sites are widely being accepted by people, and are being used to find partners. In that light, Tinder may be trying to position itself in the same bracket.”

The ad itself, though, is a miss for a lot of Tinder users themselves. “The mom says right swipe Has she been using Tinder on the side too ” asks a befuddled Madhu Menon. “To create an ad showing a typical Indian mother not only being aware of Tinder but heartily approving of it is downright ridiculous and the stuff that parodies are made of. Except that this was released in full seriousness by Tinder themselves.”

Another user Jayakrishnan Nambiar adds, “In India the concept of pre-marriage, parent-approved dating is still at a nascent stage. The first hurdle for Tinder is to show dating itself to be normal.”