Uber Is Putting Ads on Drones and Having Them Taunt Drivers Stuck in Traffic

[TheWorldNewsOrg]

As if being in a traffic jam weren't annoying enough

By David Kiefaber

Uber is doing huge business in Mexico City, to the point where they feel comfortable using drones to taunt people who aren't using their service yet.

A recent ad stunt for UberPOOL saw the company fly drones over gridlocked traffic. The drones carried signs saying things like "Driving by yourself?" and "This is why you can never see the volcanoes." That last one only makes sense if you know how polluted Mexico City is.

The point is to guilt the reader into carpooling with the UberPOOL. (That won't get you anywhere faster, of course. In fact, you might wait just a little longer for your ride.) 

I'd hesitate to call Uber's global expansion strategy "world domination," but it's not too far from that. After all, their valuation is based on the promise that they will be the premiere ridesharing app on Earth, and they just gave up on China for now, so they're courting Latin America—where they've already had some success in Mexico and Brazil—with gusto.

None of that really justifies heckling people with drones, but it's irksome in the same way that an unlicensed cab company hailing itself as some kind of revolutionary act is irksome, so it's totally on-brand for Uber. 

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/uber-putting-ads-drones-and-having-them-taunt-drivers-stuck-traffic-174136