Uber is broadcasting its disgust with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio with an aggressive new tactic.
On Thursday, the ride sharing app rolled out a tab in the app’s slider dubbed the “de Blasio” option that increases the wait time — or just says there’s no car available. The point of the taunt, which is for show only, is to show what Uber thinks would happen if City Council approves a bill that would limit the growth to one percent a year for companies that have 500 or more cars.
Exaggeration or not, it’s impossible to miss for Uber users.
“This is what Uber will look like in NYC if Mayor de Blasio’s Uber cap bill passes,” a pop up blares, encouraging people to email the mayor’s office to drop it.
Here’s what users see today:
Oh my! The @Uber NYC move against Mayor @deBlasioNYC is legendary. pic.twitter.com/JlHmvqjLob
— Mike Dudas (@mdudas) July 16, 2015
For his part, the mayor argues that Uber, along with Lyft, Dial 7 and other car service startups are creating traffic headaches. City Council is expected to vote next week.
“Mayor de Blasio’s plan to stop Uber will cost 10,000 jobs, hurt underserved areas and make wait times for Uber cars skyrocket,” Uber spokesman David Plouffe said in a statement obtained by the New York Post. “With this view, New York City riders can see for themselves how much time this political payback to big taxi owners will cost them.”
The elaborate troll is part of Uber’s heavy marketing campaign against de Blasio. It’s running an attack ad on local New York television stations accusing him of “giving in to the taxi industry.” Prior to that, they paid for people’s rides to City Hall to protest the proposal. Today’s tactic is the company’s loudest and most noticeable one yet.
More in Marketing
The case for and against organic social
Digiday has delved into the debate, weighing the arguments for and against marketers relying on organic social.
Inside Google’s latest move to postpone the cookie apocalypse
Despite Google’s (most recent) assurances that it would stick to its (newest) game plan, there has been a lot going on as of late.
While Biden signs the TikTok bill, marketers still aren’t panicking
No one seems convinced (yet) that an outright ban will happen anytime soon.