Dating in 2026 is not for the faint-hearted — there’s a lot of disappointment to overcome before you meet the one. Yet people still hold onto a glimmer of hope after every unsuccessful date.
Having previously explored how love stories begin, dating app Hinge is building on its “It’s Funny We Met” brand platform with a series that delves into the honest emotions daters experience before finding their soulmate: skepticism, burnout, or the urge to delete the app altogether.
“Can’t Believe We Met on Hinge,” created by Birthday and director India Sleem, again features seven real-life Gen Z couples from the U.S., U.K., and Australia, whose paths actually crossed before they met on Hinge.
Sleem has a knack for capturing honest human stories from everyday people, as the films’ intimate details demonstrate. Each couple chats candidly to camera, with the director embedding their voices throughout the production process to ensure the work feels authentic.
With Abreale and Tyson, for example, Tyson actually visited the gallery where Abreale worked on a day she wasn’t there before the pair met on Hinge. Close to giving up on dating, Abreale had felt stuck in repetitive situationships, while Tyson had low expectations for online love.
Meanwhile, Jada and Taylor lived on the same New York City block — a fact they only realized mid-taxi ride home from their first date. Before that, Jada had taken a full step back from dating to reset, while Taylor felt stuck in unfulfilling cycles.
And Nathan and Maisy met at a party in London while both in failing situationships — though only Nathan remembers. After casually using Hinge, their paths crossed again, and they soon developed a committed relationship.
The campaign launches today (May 14) and will run across streaming, cinema, and social media in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia, and will continue into July.
Bucking burnout
“Can’t Believe We Met on Hinge” marks the first campaign under Hinge’s new chief marketing and communications officer, Tamika Young, who stepped into the role in December as her predecessor Jackie Jantos moved up to CEO following founder Justin McLeod’s departure to launch an AI-first dating app.
Young, who joined Hinge in 2023 as svp of global communications from Netflix, was tasked with guiding how the company’s “mission and values of authenticity, courage, and empathy show up in the world.”
