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A zero-AI campaign that dared Gen Z and Millennial daters to drop the act. Three independent artists, six handmade films, one message: some things you simply cannot fake.
Curated profiles, AI-polished bios, perfect photos. Daters feel they have to play a character to be liked, and the category's own marketing keeps feeding it.
89%of young Americans say dating only works when people show their real selves.
62%say online dating makes them feel not perfect enough to be liked.
Instead of another polished ad, we handed the brief to three independent artists. Each made two surreal, slightly uncomfortable films about the pressure to perform. Sets, costumes and masks built by hand, partly shot on analog VHS, zero AI.
A fairy-tale world built by hand with her art department: a full-size cardboard horse, edible jellies, one hiding a silicone fish. A film about the stories we build in our heads and the characters we play.
“Noticing the character you’re playing is the first step to showing up as yourself.”
The cringe of dating apps from the dater’s point of view, on and off the apps: the inner monologue that runs while you overthink every swipe. Awkward moments as normal, not something to hide.
A costume and mask designer, she shot in Paris on a VHS camera for raw, analog visuals. Every look made by hand, including a mask cast from her own face.
“People don’t really care how perfect you look or what you have.”
“Being real is scary and vulnerable, we get it. But some things you simply cannot fake.”
Julia Kolesnyk, Head of Brand & Communications at Hily, in the campaign press release
Head of Brand & Communications at Hily. I led the campaign from brief to launch: my in-house team developed the idea and produced it in collaboration with the artists' teams, with me setting the direction and guiding it at every step.