OkCupid and a lesson in typography

While there is no question that this OkCupid billboard would catch anyone's eye, would most people understand it?

OkCupid is an online dating website that has been around for almost 15 years. As a precursor to Tinder and other dating apps, OkCupid has generally been a service with an older userbase than mobile counterparts. To rebrand itself, they've chosen to stylistically present as an alternative, trendy, hipster-esque service that's meant for young people who've been disillusioned with the "hook up" culture of other dating services.

This billboard is a perfect example of designing for current Millennials. The bold colors and fonts, and even the models' wardrobes, seem to throw back to the 70's and 80's. The minimalistic design and simple message avoids getting cluttered with unnecessary information that a Millennial would just Google anyways. Even the content is geared towards young people. The inclusion of a same sex couple, which is much less controversial than it used to be, is even more of an obvious choice for young people who would likely either have no issues with it, or even think more positively about the service for its representation. As this billboard is part of a larger campaign, other ads reflect other pairings like two men, a man and a woman, and multiple interracial couples. The eye catching "DTF" is also likely to translate with almost ever person below 35, as it's an extremely common text abbreviation.

Now, the issue that plagues this billboard stems from a formatting issue, as well as a typography issue. While most people understand the meaning behind the letters "DTF", very few people can quickly understand that the "F" does not mean a curse word in this scenario, and is instead supposed to connect to the "All Head Over Heels" to make the copy read "Down To Fall Head Over Heels". I personally know that this ad has issues, as I saw this exact billboard while on a trip to Portland, Oregon, and my friend and I spent at least five minutes trying to decipher it.

While the copy isn't a nail in the coffin for this ad, it's amazing to think how easily this could have been solved if the F and the "all" were somehow connected through color or font, and it's difficult to understand how this passed through so many people's desks without a single one pointing it out.

Did you understand this ad, or did you DTFail to understand it like me?