Dating burnout is real and it’s leading to apathy toward dating. And there’s one major thing to blame: emotional immaturity. According to Match’s findings from its annual Singles in America study, less than half of young singles felt excited or enthusiastic about dating with 64% of online daters reporting they felt burnt out in their dating lives. With ghosting, catfishing, gaslighting, dating apps today leave singles wondering - where have all the adults gone? So Match, the iconic dating brand launched Adults Wanted – to recruit emotionally mature adults looking to bring the fun and excitement back to dating.

There’s a million dating apps out there and somehow every last one is speaking to the same, frivolous carefree young person. Yet more than 56 million singles are over the age of 30. Match saw an opportunity to recruit an entirely neglected audience: adults. Adults who want to feel sparks and stability. Adults who want to date… other adults. Because when you date adults, you get to be irresponsible with really responsible people.

Inspired by vintage HELP WANTED signs, we partnered with traditional sign painting artists to develop a hand-drawn typeface for the campaign. We showed up in neighborhoods with the highest population of adult singles, selling the emotionally mature qualities that only real adults find sexy. In hours, photos and mentions of the campaign flooded the internet. All of the 30-something-year-olds who were tired of dating like 20-something-year-olds finally felt seen and heard. We successfully made “adult dating” sexy, and Match the destination for it.

Inspired by vintage ‘help wanted’ signs, Adults Wanted came to life in OOH installations with playful, witty copy painted and posted up all around NYC and LA – and specifically in neighborhoods with the highest population of adult singles. With lines like “Fall stupidly in love with someone who’s actually really smart,” “Get really naughty with someone really nice,” and “Cross a borough for someone who won’t cross your boundaries;” the campaign aims to attract people who are looking to revive the joy dating can bring, but also aren’t willing to compromise on their basic wants and needs. Cause, ya know. They’re adults.

The beautiful design and witty copy made this OOH campaign transcend into the digital, with people posting pictures of it leading to an 11,000% increase in social engagement and over 1.5 Million social impressions.