AIDS Healthcare Now Claiming Tinder and Grindr Promote STDs

LOS ANGELES—AVN has long maintained that Angelenos (and everyone else) are far more likely to contract an STD by picking up a sex partner in a bar than by having sex in an adult movie—and apparently, AIDS Healthcare Foundation took that truism to heart: In mid-September, they rented a huge billboard just a few blocks from hook-up site Tinder's Beverly Boulevard headquarters which features silhouetted heads emblazoned with the words "Tinder," "chlamydia," "Grindr" and "gonorrhea," and the web address FreeSTDCheck.org, which of course is AHF's website that directs anyone looking for an STD test to an AHF testing facility. Guess what? Tinder and Grindr didn't take too kindly to having their services closely linked to sexually transmitted diseases, with Grindr almost immediately taking down AHF's "free STD testing services" ads on its site, and Tinder's attorneys sending a "cease and desist" letter to AHF demanding the removal of the billboard. "These unprovoked and wholly unsubstantiated accusations are made to irreparably damage Tinder's reputation in an attempt to encourage others to take an HIV test offered by your organization," the letter from attorney Jonathan D. Reichman of Kenyon & Kenyon states in part. "While Tinder strongly supports such testing, the Billboard's statements are not founded upon any scientific evidence, and are incapable of withstanding critical analysis. The above false accusations therefore constitute, among other things, false advertising, unfair competition and dilution by tarnishment under federal and common law; false advertising under California State Business & Professional Code §17500, et seq.; as well as product disparagement, trade libel, and interference with prospective economic advantage. No matter how altruistic its purpose, the Billboard improperly steers people to AHF's HIV test by disparaging Tinder. "Tinder cannot tolerate AHF's exploitation of these false, unsupported statements," the letter continues. "We therefore demand that you immediately: (i) remove all references to Tinder from the Billboard and your website, and (ii) cease making any and all false and disparaging statements against Tinder." Reichman gave AHF until September 25 to remove the Tinder reference from the billboard or Tinder would "reserve[] its right to take such further action as it deems necessary to protect its interests," but at this writing, the billboard remains in place—and AHF issued a press release over the weekend in an attempt to justify its position. The press release quoted attorney Laura Boudreau's response to the Tinder demand, in which she stated in part, "AHF has not made any false or disparaging statements against Tinder and therefore has no reason to cease making any such statements." Of course, no one with half a brain could miss the billboard's linking of Tinder with "chlamydia," but such denials of the plainly obvious are par for the course with AHF. "The billboard does not expressly equate the social apps with STDs," added AHF's publicist, "but encourages users to think about whether their use has put them at risk, and gives them information on where to get tested." Yeah! After all, who could look at two silhouetted heads apparently about to kiss, with one labeled "Tinder" and the other "chlamydia," and get the idea that there was any relation between the two! AHF's publicist went on to link to a May report from the Rhode Island Department of Health citing a rise in sexually transmitted infections in that state between 2013 and 2014, as well as a study by M.R. Beymer and others titled "Sex on demand: geosocial networking phone apps and risk of sexually transmitted infections among a cross-sectional sample of men who have sex with men in Los Angeles County," which claimed that those who hooked up through social networking had "greater odds of testing positive for gonorrhoea and for chlamydia" than people who pick up partners in a bar or other in-person setting, but that's a far cry from either article specifically linking Tinder or Grindr to increased infection rates. For its part, Grindr told the L.A. Times that it has "always been concerned with the issues of men's health by providing educational campaigns, conducting research on healthcare issues affecting the gay community and partnering with health organizations on national studies." What further legal action Tinder and/or Grindr might take remains to be seen, but adult industry members should probably be asking themselves, "Does this mean the day is coming when anybody who goes on Tinder or Grindr looking for a date will have to promise to use a condom with their online partner?"