Helena Bonham Carter narrated Bumble's tribute to 2020's impossible daters

Chronicle the strange experiences of dating amid the pandemic and champion 2020's daters at Christmas, in The Brooklyn Brothers' first work for the brand after winning the brief earlier that year.

A 90-second film opens at Christmas dinner, where a young woman's nan suggests she's 'just not trying hard enough'; flashback to the year's video dates, awkward socially-distanced walks and weeing behind a tree in the park. Bonham Carter — Oscar-nominated, Bafta-winning, star of The Crown — narrates as the godmother of dating, concluding: 'The fact is you have been trying. And given the world is spinning on a whole new axis, anything can happen.' Created by Cali Oliver and Charlotte Adorjan, directed by Cloé Bailly through Caviar, launching December 8, 2020 in the UK and Ireland on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

Ran in the UK and Ireland across YouTube, Facebook and Instagram through the holiday season, timed to the one in 10 Bumble users who reported family pressure to be in a relationship; Bonham Carter's message — 'quit putting those goal posts on yourself' — carried the campaign's press quotes.

On December 8, 2020, Bumble launched 'When dating met 2020', a campaign featuring Helena Bonham Carter championing the efforts of daters in a year that gave single people new and unexpected challenges. It was the first work for the brand by The Brooklyn Brothers after winning the brief earlier that year.

The 90-second film begins with a young woman at Christmas dinner being asked why she doesn't have a boyfriend — 'Perhaps you're just not trying hard enough,' her nan suggests — before looking back on the year's strange and funny experiences: video dates, awkward socially-distanced walks, having to wee behind a tree in the park. Bonham Carter narrates as an omniscient godmother of dating, concluding: 'The fact is you have been trying. And given the world is spinning on a whole new axis, anything can happen. So what are you waiting for?'

The work was created by Cali Oliver and Charlotte Adorjan and directed by Cloé Bailly through Caviar, running in the UK and Ireland on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. It leaned on Bumble's survey finding that 71% of users felt their dating life had been significantly affected in 2020, only 49% were confident about how to date, and one in 10 faced heavy holiday pressure from family and friends.

Oliver said there was an opportunity to show understanding — something that felt 'for women, by women' — and celebrate the imperfect dating journey; Bonham Carter added that people should 'quit putting those goal posts on themselves'.

Christmas is peak family-pressure season for singles, so the timing gave the message a live cultural target.

A-list narration reframed pandemic dating struggles as epic rather than failed.

The 'women-first' brand positioning demanded a film that felt made by and for women, down to the tree-in-the-park honesty.

Absolving users kept them on the app: if 2020 wasn't their fault, 2021 was worth waiting for.

In a year when your product's core job became impossible, absolution outperforms aspiration: tell users they did nothing wrong.

The film ran through the 2020 holiday season in the UK and Ireland, marking The Brooklyn Brothers' debut for Bumble after its brief win earlier that year.