#DeleteUber: All publicity is good publicity, except when it's not

Since early Sunday morning, #deleteuber began trending on both Twitter and Facebook, calling for users to remove the app and instead use rival service, Lyft.

What exactly did Uber do to attract this blitz of negative social media attention?

During the protests that emerged at the JFK International Airport, a response to President Trump’s executive action regarding travel restrictions for those coming from select countries in the Middle East, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance decided to wage a strike in order to “stand in solidarity with all of our peace-loving neighbors against this inhumane, cruel, and unconstitutional act of pure bigotry.” 

Uber made the decision to turn off its ‘surge pricing’ feature and continue to service people to and from the airport. While the company did come out to say that it would support everyone affected by the proposed ban, fierce criticism and anger only continued to rise.

Failure to Read a Situation

On the surface, Uber’s intentions seem good: “We wanted people to know they could use Uber to get to and from JFK at normal prices, especially tonight.” However, the widespread criticism was largely the result of how Uber handled the situation. 

Before its competitor, Lyft, responded to the protests, Uber was the first to address them by stating that it would continue to offer services to the airport without increasing the price of rides to meet the increased demand. 

Most people saw this as a blatant decision that undermined the actions of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, as well as a company simply taking advantage of a clearly controversial and divisive event for business purposes. 

To make such an immediate decision and communicating it vaguely through social media, it should come as no surprise that a large number of people would see Uber’s actions as an affront against an effort to fight for civil rights. 

Bad Publicity

To make matters worse, not only did Uber respond first and alienate its audience, but rival Lyft responded afterwards by clearly stating that it would be donating $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union.  

While many argue that no publicity is ever bad publicity, this case surrounding Uber is distinct in that it not only portrays the company in an extremely negative light, but that it also portrays its rival in an extremely positive one. 

If someone was not following the story closely, they would assume, based off of online reporting and social media, that Uber had broken a civil liberties strike while its competitor Lyft donated one million dollars to the American Civil Liberties Union. 

What company wants to look like it’s against civil liberties?

Forgetting their Customers

Uber, Lyft, and most other rideshare companies’ primary target demographic are generally those who are younger. According to the Pew Research Center, these services are most popular “among young adults, urbanites, college grads.” These groups are typically the ones who are more highly educated as well as more economically liberal and socially active. 

By appearing to be against civil rights and liberties, the first people you will put off are those who are more likely to be against a proposed travel ban targeting select individuals due to religious beliefs.

Unfortunately for Uber, this also happens to be their main target consumer audience. This means that not only did their initial response put off a lot of people, but it put off the people most likely to use their services.  

Final Thoughts

Although Uber acted hastily and received a storm of negative publicity, I still believe that there were good intentions behind its decision. Since then, Uber has both clarified its statements and reaffirmed that it would be supporting all of those affected by the proposed ban.

However, a lesson that we should all take away from this is that in a highly politicized era with the instantaneous and far reaching capabilities of social media, one should carefully consider a message before releasing it to the world. 

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Erwen (Alex) Zhu is an intended Business Major at the University of California Berkeley and writes as a millennial voice for marketing, social media, entertainment, politics, and cultural impact.

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