Sometime in April, Grindr’s famously yellow logo turned hot pink, and a profile appeared dead centre with pop icon Madonna’s face on it. She had a new song out. Whether you heard it or not, you couldn’t hide, remove, or block the logo. One entire tile on the precious grid—already down to a dozen rows in the app’s free version—was permanently occupied by ‘mutha’. Talk about allies taking over queer spaces.
While the profile has disappeared now (small mercies during Pride Month), the logo remains pink and will likely stay so until the album, Confessions II, comes out on 3 July.The Grindr-Madonna tie-up is in-your-face, loud, and incredibly boring. Worst of all, it has made me hate the new album with a passion. You shouldn’t have to lock the door behind your audience, Madame X. It’s embarrassing.
I admit I may not be the target audience for the collab. I know Madonna from two places: her legendary Vogue performance at the MTV Awards and the Rusical tribute RuPaul’s Drag Race put together for her back in 2021. It’s precisely why I should have been given the chance to hit the close button.Madonna is a pioneer. She is the OG pop star who made queer culture mainstream. So it’s all the more worrying that Grindr’s first big promo tie-up is with her. What else will follow, poppers being sold on the app with Troye Sivan’s next dance hit? Lime green jumpers for a Harry Styles album, perhaps? I’m sure the community will welcome the former—so you can bet it’s never happening on Grindr.
