The woman described the inclusive ads as “disgusting propaganda”. (Twitter)
OkCupid has hit back at the bigot who attacked an inclusive campaign poster in a now-viral video.
The dating site launched its ‘Every Single Person’ campaign in July to spotlight love in all its forms, and put out adverts with taglines like “every single bear”, “every singe non-monogamist” and “every single vaxxer”.
One poster, which read “every single pansexual“, was installed on a New York subway train, only to be torn down by a bigot who condemned it as “gross” in a viral video.
Woman rips down “inclusive” OKCupid ads in New York City subway, says they are “propaganda.” pic.twitter.com/c0bfwZJa5L
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 23, 2021
“This is propaganda. It affects the next generation and no one sees it,” the woman says in the video, as a person filming agrees.
“It’s disgusting.”
As the video was shared across social media, OkCupid’s CMO Melissa Hobley responded.
From her personal Twitter account, she wrote: “In light of the recent homophobic rant sparked by our ad campaign celebrating all kinds of people and all kinds of LOVE, @okcupid is making an even bigger commitment to be inclusive. So thanks for the craziness. Also, put on a mask. You owe the @MTA $50.”
She expanded on her views on the matter during an interview with PRWeekly. She said: “It reminded us that inclusion is more important than ever. We can handle someone ripping down some ads. What’s not ok [is] to make the kind of statements she made and to destroy public property.”
OkCupid has reiterated that they’ve had lots of positive feedback from people who have never seen themselves represented on mainstream dating sites before.
“These reactions only serve to make it even more clear that we must continue to champion people who are historically underrepresented,” it said in a statement. “Whether you’re a non-binary person, an environmentalist, a vaccine advocate or all of the above, you deserve to find what you’re looking for.”