Dating app Bumble is forced to issue groveling apology amid backlash from offensive billboards that mocked celibacy

Dating app Bumble has been forced to issue an apology after the company plastered offensive billboards across the country that made fun of celibacy. 

On Monday, the company backtracked and apologized for billboards that bore the message 'You know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer' juxtaposed against an introduction to 'the new Bumble.' 

Some women vowed to never use the app again after the controversial billboards, which popped up all over the country. 'I am done dating. I'm just done. It's not worth it anymore,' a TikTok user said upon seeing the billboard.

The app, which has a market capital of $2billion, launched a brand redesign in April in hopes of reviving user interest, which had been lagging.

Both women and men on social media slammed the company for suggesting celibacy isn't a valid personal choice in their latest advertisements. 

The dating app Bumble has been forced to issue an apology after the company plastered offensive billboards (such as this one, seen in Los Angeles) across the country that made fun of celibacy

Online critics blasted the slogan (seen here on a billboard near UCLA) as reflecting patriarchal notions that women should be willing to have sex with men even if they don´t want to

Some women vowed to never use the app again after the controversial billboards, which popped up all over the country

Another ad, which popped up on London's underground stations, read: 'Thou shalt not give up on dating and become a nun,' referencing the female Christian group who take a vow of celibacy. 

Online critics blasted the slogan as reflecting patriarchal notions that women should be willing to have sex with men even if they don´t want to.

In an apology posted on Instagram, Bumble said it is removing ads that it called a mistaken attempt to 'lean into a community frustrated by modern dating.' 

It said the company has long stood up for women and their right to 'fully exercise personal choice,' but admitted that the ad campaign didn't live up to those values and apologized 'for the harm it caused.' 

Bumble stood out from the crowd of other dating apps when it was launched in 2014 because it was branded as a 'feminist dating app' by its founder Whitney Wolfe Herd - who had just left rival company Tinder. 

Lidiane Jones, former CEO of Slack Technologies, took over as the CEO of Bumble in January 2024, and has led the controversial campaigns. 

The company now have announced plans to donate to the National Domestic Violence Hotline and other organizations to support global efforts to 'support women, marginalized communities, and those impacted by abuse,' in light of the scorned campaign. 

Bumble has vowed to offer the billboard space to these same organizations for ads of their choice.

Another questionable marketing move in the company's new campaign included using historic images of tired-looking women in their advertisements. 

The pictures were accompanied with cryptic messages from men, 'Have you heard of crypto?' and 'You're the only girl I'm talking to.'

Bumble's desperate bid to regain popularity comes as the app has continued to lose users who are opting for apps like Hinge, Tinder and the exclusive members-only dating app Raya. 

January 2024 data revealed that, of the total adult population who have used dating apps - 26 percent have tried Bumble. This is compared to 46 percent for Tinder, 33 percent for Plenty of Fish and 29 percent for Match. 

Among 18-29-year-olds, Bumble's popularity was far higher with 49 percent of dating app users having tried the 'feminist' app. 

A whopping 80 percent of the same age category had tried Tinder and 34 percent had experimented with Hinge.  

Earlier this month, Herd revealed what she thinks is the future of modern-day dating and how AI can assist as well as empower young people.

Herd, 34, gave an interview at the Bloomberg Tech Summit in San Francisco on May 9 where she spoke about how Bumble was focused on digital innovation while maintaining its ideologies.

Lidiane Jones, former CEO of Slack Technologies, took over as the CEO of Bumble in January 2024, and has led the controversial campaigns

Bumble stood out from the crowd of other dating apps when it was launched in 2014 because it was branded as a 'feminist dating app' by its founder Whitney Wolfe Herd (pictured) - who had just left rival company Tinder

She also noted that AI could possibly help coach future users on how to date and present themselves in the best light to potential partners.

Herd also presented a scenario during the interview wherein singles could use AI dating concierges as stand-ins while reaching out to prospective partners online.  

'If you want to get really out there, there is a world where your [AI] dating concierge could go and date for you with other dating concierge.

'So, for example, you could in the near future be talking to your AI dating concierge and you could share your insecurities.

'I've just come out of a break-up, I've got commitment issues,' and it could help you train yourself into a better way of thinking about yourself.

'Truly. And then you don't have to talk to 600 people. It will scan all of San Francisco for you and say: 'These are the three people you really outta meet,'' she told host Emily Chang.

Herd further said that she wished for AI to help people 'create more healthy and equitable relationships.'

She is married to Michael Herd, an oil and gas heir from Texas. They met on a skiing trip in Aspen and share two children together.