The upcoming winter months bring with them the annual cold and flu season—as well as “cuffing season” for singles everywhere.
Capitalizing on both occurrences is consumer health giant Reckitt, which is sending its less-than-beloved Mucinex mascot Mr. Mucus to popular dating app Tinder to inspire consumers to make smart decisions about their health as they do the same in their love lives.
According to this week’s announcement, Mr. Mucus’ dating app debut is part of Reckitt’s “No Regrets” campaign for Mucinex Nightshift, a version of the over-the-counter cold and flu product that’s specifically designed to relieve symptoms overnight.
“No one wants to wake up with regrets or start their day wishing they had done something different the night before,” Albert So, marketing director of upper respiratory at Reckitt, said in the announcement. “This applies to how we treat our cold and flu symptoms, but also the choices we make in our everyday lives. The Mucinex ‘No Regrets’ Campaign is encouraging consumers to make better decisions at night, so they wake up with no regrets the next morning.”
True to his disgusting roots, Mr. Mucus’ Tinder presence is specifically designed to give daters the irreversible “ick.” His profile is loaded with all the dating app classics—mirror selfies at the gym, snapshots from a successful fishing trip and awkwardly cropped photos with ex-girlfriends, to name but a few—and, per Reckitt, he’ll be sending out cringe-worthy pickup lines like “I’m the catch of the day… if you like catching cold and flu symptoms!”
The mascot will stick around on Tinder from October through December, as wintertime dating and respiratory illnesses both head toward a peak.
In addition to swiping on the app, Mr. Mucus will go on a blind date with Kamie Crawford, a model and TV host who’s serving as the campaign’s celebrity spokesperson. In updates posted on both Crawford and Mr. Mucus’ Instagram and TikTok accounts, viewers will be able to see whether Crawford ends up regretting being set up with a literal booger—a tough decision for sure.