Lots of dating app advertising is highly stylized, treating love as a kind of fantasy land. This is aspirational, in a way. But Hinge goes in the other direction in a new campaign that focuses instead on real couples telling charming, sometimes awkward stories about how they met on Hinge.

The campaign is from new agency Birthday, founded this year by Corinna Falusi. A series of seven disarming spots were directed by India Sleem of Serial Pictures.

The idea is to get away from depictions of fairy-tale love stories, which can feel disconnected from the lived experiences of today’s daters. The spots have a realness, immediacy and intimacy to them that’s highly relatable—and always centered on Hinge itself, giving viewers the sense that Hinge is different from other apps.

Jackie Jantos, chief marketing officer of Hinge, told Ad Age that the goal of the brand’s marketing is to be “useful, empathetic and honest” and to “help people get off the app and into great dates.” 

Also read: Hinge’s mascot goes to heaven in dating app’s latest ‘Designed to Be Deleted’ campaign

“This is why we share real Hinge love stories,” Jantos said. “From our ‘No Ordinary Love’ zine to now these films, we like to honor the beauty and imperfection of finding love. Rarely do we experience fairy-tale beginnings. These stories resonate because they are real and honest.” 

In particular, Jantos said the brand is constantly hearing stories about couples who already knew each other but connected romantically on Hinge. A number of these stories are in the campaign.

“Casting was centered around couples whose paths knowingly or unknowingly crossed paths in person before ultimately connecting on our app,” Jantos said. “These couples’ stories are deeply personal—and illustrate how dating is rarely a perfect, linear experience.”

Other current Hinge marketing includes a partnership with @meetcutesNYC to capture viral street-level documentation of modern love stories and the “Designed to Be Deleted” global ad campaign starring Patti Harrison.

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