CYBERSPACE—Jack'd, a hook-up app for gay urban millennials, is urging its members to be the generation that ends racism. Their dating app has a new viral video, titled “The Generation That Ends Racism," that points a critical finger at its competitor, Grindr, for allowing discriminatory tag lines like “No fats, no femmes” and “No blacks, no Asians” to proliferate on its platform.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for racism on Jack’d,” explains Alon Rivel, the director of global marketing at Jack’d, who first conceived the idea for the video. “We encourage members being discriminated against or harassed to report it to our customer service department. If we find the allegations to be true, we will immediately delete the profile of the offending member regardless if they are a paid member or not. Our members’ comfort and safety will always trump making money.”
Rivel believes it's time all dating apps take responsibility for the pervasive racism on their platforms. “There is a difference between being attracted to certain characteristics of a man and spewing hate and/or attacking others for their religion or the color of their skin,” he explained. “Racism, in both the real and virtual worlds, is not OK. As gay men, we are all minorities and we need to stand together in accepting and supporting our differences.”
Rivel worked with creator Ryan Mahoney on the direction of “The Generation That Ends Racism” campaign. Russell Horsey at Jack’d conducted the research.
Some 1.2 million guys use Jack’d, all hoping to find local men to chat, date and meet. The app consistently ranks among the top four gay social apps in both the App Store and Google Play. Sixty-seven percent of Jack’d members in the United States are between 18 and 26. Nearly 60 percent are Black and Latino.
Jack’d 4.0 is on Android and iOS. To view “The Generation That Ends Racism” campaign in its entirety, visit JackdApp.com.
