Bumble has been forced to apologise for a poorly-worded push notification which was sent to inform users about a Movember fundraising partnership.
On November 13th, Bumble was donating $0.02 for every match that was made on all three of its platforms in Canada.
The social app sent a notification to Canadian users saying: “Did you know 1 in 10 men will experience depression in their lives? Match today to support men’s mental health.”
As the notification made no reference to the financial donations, a number of women believed Bumble was suggesting they could cure a man’s mental health issues by going on a date with him.
Hey @bumble, this Movember (I assume) message for women is weird and insensitive. Plenty of ways to support men’s mental health that don’t insinuate that we should do our part by dating men. pic.twitter.com/bq20EGMkiy
— Elizabeth Allen (@elizallen_) November 14, 2018
It was also interpreted as recommending that women take on the emotional labour of supporting their matches.
Some women took to Twitter to express their annoyance at the notification, calling it “weird and insensitive”, and “irresponsible”.
Bumble worked quickly to rectify the situation and apologised to each individual complaint. One apology to a user read: “We apologize for the confusion; matches mean financial support! Today we’re donating $0.02 to Movember Canada for every match made on Bumble Date, Bumble BFF, and Bumble Bizz!”
Movember is a movement that promotes awareness for men’s health issues. Men grow moustaches during November to raise money to fight mental health, testicular cancer and prostate cancer.
The Inner Circle added a donation button to the profiles of men who were taking part in Movember, and encouraged other users to donate to the charity.
Visit the Movember website here.