We wanted to create a viral moment around April Fools’ Day that would lead to a larger conversation on social media about honesty in dating. To successfully achieve this, we had to pick a topic that is both relevant to and somewhat controversial amongst dating app users. As a team, we landed on the hotly discussed issue of lying about one’s height...because apparently that matters? So, in an effort to spoof lying about your height on your dating profile, we introduced Height Verification, a fake feature update designed to bring greater transparency to dating and remind our audience of the importance of being your true self.
When we began discussing how to execute Height Verification, we focused on an out-of-home approach by which people could visit actual height verification stations throughout Los Angeles. However, we became concerned that this would feel over-produced, thus turning off our Gen Z audience. In order to create a more organic feel, we produced a product demo video introducing our Height Verification feature. The idea was to create something so simple that people would really have to think twice about whether or not it was real. And both to avoid tipping off viewers and to stand apart from the sea of April Fools’ Day stunts. We released the video the afternoon of March 29th. We did this on Twitter, because it is the best platform to stir up immediate conversation online. The production budget was very minimal and we invested no money in paid placements. Yet as a result of these efforts, we went on to create the most viral stunt in Tinder history.
The Tweet featuring the Height Verification video was retweeted about 2.8k times, earned nearly 3.6M organic views and 16.7k likes, and on Twitter alone, we saw 9.4k mentions. It ultimately reached an audience of approximately 241 million Twitter users.
On Instagram, the video recorded almost 50k views and 672 comments, many of which includes viewers tagging their friends and spreading the word organically. We particularly enjoyed these comments:
Twitter:
@EloiseHodson Never acc been excited for anything more in my life @ella_edwards @simi_bains @jessy_shergill
@EvanEdinger This is all I could’ve ever wanted
@louisezus tinder height verification is the best news i’ve heard all year
@rahimaso Brands trying too hard for April Fools. @Tinder's was most believable so far.
Instagram:
@lexi_th @manda_campbell34 where was this when I needed this Lexie_th:
@lexiwalton omg Manda_campbell34: @lexiwaltom17 17 I’m dying 😂😂😂
@sophiegatenby what I needed in my Tinder days 😩
The stunt also landed well with press, earning 65 stories resulting in 1.7B impressions and praise from the likes of The Verge, Mashable, DailyMail, Highsnobiety, and Time, all of which named Height Verification one of the best April Fools’ pranks of the year.
