Bud Light has become the first brand to advertise via a native ad on dating app Tinder, inviting users to join its ‘Whatever, USA’ party in May.

It was first rumoured nearly a year ago that Tinder was exploring the idea of native ads, but this is the first occasion that users will be served video ads.

US-based users of Tinder, as well as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, will be able to enter a competition to become one of a thousand attendees at Bud Light’s weekend-long ‘Whatever, USA’ festival.

Tinder users will be served the Bud Light clip promoting the competition after “four or five” swipes – the method by which people search through potential date partners. They will be able to pause, resume and replay the video.

The video creative was created in partnership by Bud Light and Tinder, with various video lengths to be tested over the duration of the campaign.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–neVGw4VUU

Bud Light director of marketing Hugh Cullman told Ad Week that the brand was attracted by Tinder’s audience, but wanted to ensure its creative matched users’ expectations.

“We haven’t taken our traditional TV commercials and just slapped them on Tinder. We know that would be a poor experience. [We wanted to] talk to that audience in the way that they are talking to other people. TV [spots] work great for TV, but we knew they would not be a good experience for Tinder,” said Cullman.

Tinder’s head of global brand solutions, Alexis Ginas, added: “We’re thrilled to work with Bud Light as we introduce opportunities for brands to connect with our global community. The Bud Light campaign is a unique and fun experience for Tinder users that fits seamlessly into the platform.”