The next time you want to swipe right on that special someone on Tinder, you might want to re-evaluate your choice. Tinder dates are notoriously unpredictable, and have become the subject of countless memes, running jokes and “you-can’t-believe-what-just-happened-to-me” texts between friends.
One woman, Natasha Aponte, pulled off one of the greatest schemes in recent Tinder history last weekend that involved a lot of planning.
Apparently, Aponte gave all of her dates the same treatment when initially meeting them on Tinder. According to a Twitter user who claims to have been a “victim” of the scheme, Aponte would chat with them via text and then ask to text them “in a week or two” when she was “less busy with work.”
After not speaking for a few weeks, Aponte asked every guy she spoke with to meet in Union Square in New York City for drinks and a DJ set. On the day of the “date,” dozens of men showed up.
About a half hour after Aponte asked her dates to arrive, she got up on stage and began a “Hunger Games” type speech about what it’s going to take to date her, and asked the crowd, “Do you have what it takes to compete against everyone here to win a date with me?”
Aponte then proceeded to list out various qualities that would immediately disqualify them: being a tourist, under 5’10, being named Jimmy, beer bellies, baldness and wearing khakis or Toms shoes.
She then proceeded to further eliminate candidates swiping left and right on them IRL and by putting them through a series of physical tests including sprints and push-ups.
It turns out that everything, from the text messages to the DJ set where Aponte and her dates were to meet up, was a complete setup.
It was revealed that the prank, or rather, social commentary, was not Aponte’s own idea, but that it was done with the assistance of viral marketing agency, Rob Bliss Creative (you might remember the “10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman” video from the same agency). The agency posted a video to YouTube called “The Tinder Trap” that shows Aponte and Bliss discussing the downfalls of online dating.
They not only explain their reasoning, but also show footage of Aponte and her dates during the “contest.”
Rob Bliss, owner of the agency, stated, "The planning process took years actually and I think it was important to take all of the Tinder experience and bring it into the real world because everything that Natasha did is something that we're already doing online.”
Aponte added, “I am actually willing to take the punches just because of the meaning behind the message. We're not saying that this is right, we're actually agreeing with everyone saying this is wrong, so why do we allow it to happen online?”
Regardless, perhaps this kind of hardcore selection process for Tinder dates should be saved for the digital sphere only.