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5 reasons you should try dating with The Inner Circle

Summer fling or the real thing? Either way, here’s how The Inner Circle can help you find your special Stockholmer. Admit it, you’re curious.

Published: 14 June 2016 16:02 CEST
Updated: 15 June 2016 17:02 CEST
5 reasons you should try dating with The Inner Circle
Photo: The Inner Circle

1. It’s summer


Photo: Asrtr/Twenty20

Swedish winter was practically designed for Netflix – with chill or without. But summer is a whole other ballgame. When the sun is out, it’s a crime for you to not be!

So what better excuse to go out than a row of rosé-drinking dates with potential soulmates in the summer sun? (Plus, everyone knows Swedes are friendlier when the sun is shining.)

2. You’re done ‘finding yourself’


Photo: AJ Weber Photo/Twenty20, used under license

At some point – or many points – in life, most people feel they’ve got some self-examining to do. Who am I? What do I want to do with my life?

But once you’ve figured all that out – at least for now – it can be frustrating to date someone who still lives with their parents and has been flitting between part-time jobs.

The lads and ladies on The Inner Circle have been carefully selected, and they’re high achievers. That doesn’t mean they’re arrogant jerks mind you – it just means they’re doing a great job at whatever it is they’re doing. Just like you, right?

3. You want to meet someone – before you’re both drunk


Photo: freemanlafleur/Twenty20

Chances are you’ve heard or experienced how first dates often work in Sweden. Go to a club; have four drinks; wink at a cute stranger; more drinks; make out; another drink; go home with said stranger; see if you’re still interested in the morning. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Wouldn’t it be nice to get to know people sober? And yet not have to deal with the whole awkward fika “is-this-a-date-or-isn’t-it” scenario?

The Inner Circle isn’t just about finding matches on your mobile. It’s a social platform. There are real-life events at great venues, and you can select mates based off their fun first-date suggestions on the app.

4. You keep seeing the same people on Tinder/Happn/whatever


Photo: Alexander Kikis/Twenty20, under license from Twenty20.com

You know how it is. You swipe and swipe and swipe and swipe. Yet there’s no spark, no fireworks. You try a new dating app, looking for greener grass – and recognize every single person.  Dang it all!

Sure, The Inner Circle is another dating app. But since each member has to be approved, chances are you’ll still see a lot less of the people you’ve already turned down. And you’ll be surprised at how many people seem to tick all your boxes. The Inner Circle is about quality, not quantity.

5. You love you


Photo: gpointstudio/Shutterstock, used under license

Cheesy, yeah. But you know that old saying about how you’ve got to love yourself first. Well admit it, although it might sound pretentious, it’s also a pretty good ego boost to be a member of something called The Inner Circle. Getting in is pretty much confirmation that you kick ass.

Go kick ass – Join The Inner Circle

This article was produced by The Local and sponsored by The Inner Circle.

HEALTH

IN PICTURES: 7 of the French government’s sexiest public health adverts

An advertising campaign aimed at convincing young people to get the Covid vaccine has attracted international attention, but it’s not the first time that French authorities have sexed up their public health messaging.

Published: 8 July 2021 17:22 CEST
Updated: 11 July 2021 12:16 CEST
IN PICTURES: 7 of the French government's sexiest public health adverts
Image: AIDES.

It’s an international cliché that France is the land of l’amour – or at least the land of le sexe – and that reputation does seem to be justified, given how often French public health bodies have turned to sex in an attempt to get their message across.

From the suggestive to the downright scandalous, here are seven examples of health campaigns which relied on that oh so French fondness for romance.

Get vaccinated, get laid

The Covid campaign in question was created by regional health authorities in the southern Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur region.

The poster which has got people hot under the collar features two very attractive and very French-looking people kissing, seemingly in the back of a cab after a night on the town. “Yes, the vaccine can have desirable effects,” it says.

The campaign has proved so popular that it will soon be expanded.

Promoting road safety

Earlier this year, the French Road Safety Delegation released a video ahead of Valentine’s Day, which showed a couple sharing an intimate moment in the bedroom.

The full 30-second video featured the slogan, “Life is better than one last drink for the road”.

Another image of two people kissing, seemingly without clothes, included the line, “Life, love. On the road, don’t forget what truly matters.”

Fight against HIV/AIDS

While the link between road safety and sex isn’t immediately obvious, less surprising are the references to intimacy in the health ministry’s HIV awareness campaign from 2016.

Each of the different posters shows two men embracing. Straplines include, “With a lover, with a friend, with a stranger. Situations vary, and so do the protective measures.”

The posters shocked conservative sensibilities, and several right-wing mayors asked for them to be taken down in their towns. 

HIV awareness campaign

Just a few days after the controversy over the ministry’s posters ignited, the non-profit AIDES launched its own campaign, and it didn’t hold back.

The posters showed scuba instructors, piano teachers and parachutists, all of them naked alongside their students. The slogan: “People undergoing treatment for HIV have a lot of things to pass onto us. But the AIDS virus isn’t one.”

“Even if we’ve been spreading this information since 2008, we realise that a lot of people don’t know that antiviral treatments prevent spreading,” head of AIDES Aurélien Beaucamp told France Info.

“People are still afraid of those who are HIV-positive.” 

Government-mandated pornography

It’s common for sexualised advertising campaigns to be labelled pornographic by critics, but in 1998, the French government went a step further and created actual pornography.

READ ALSO Language of love – 15 of the best romantic French phrases

The health ministry commissioned TV station Canal Plus to create five short erotic films to encourage the use of condoms and prevent the spread of HIV. The campaign featured up-and-coming directors such as Cedric Klapisch and Gaspar Noé.

“The only possible way to look at, to get people to protect themselves, is to show, show everything, show simply and without creating an obsession of the sexual act and the act of wearing a condom,” Klapisch said, according to an Associated Press story published at the time. 

You didn’t really think we’d include images of this one, did you? (OK, here’s a link for those who are curious).

A controversial anti-smoking campaign

https://twitter.com/MarketainmentSE/status/212863393143586817

It’s time to forget what we said about romance, because there is nothing romantic about this 2010 campaign from the Droits des Non-Fumeurs (Non-smokers’ rights) association and the BDDP & Fils communications agency.

The campaign featured several images of young people with a cigarette in their mouths, looking up at an adult man who rested his hand on their heads. The cigarette appeared to be coming out of the man’s trousers.

The slogan said, “Smoking means being a slave to tobacco”. The association said the sexual imagery was meant to get the attention of young people who were desensitised to traditional anti-smoking messages, but the posters caused outrage, with members of the government publicly criticising the choice of imagery.

Celebrating LGBTQ+ love

On the other end of the spectrum is this very romantic video from the national health agency Santé Publique France. It was released on May 17th 2021, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, and was part of a campaign against anti-LGBT discrimination and violence. It is set to Jean-Claude Pascal’s Nous les amoureux

Showing a diverse range of couples kissing, holding hands, and healing each other’s wounds, the video ends on the word play: “In the face of intolerance, it’s up to us to make the difference.”

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