Uber is being reasonable, here. RNC attendees would be pissed, and Uber would take some of the heat.
If the Cleveland paper is like most alt-weeklies, though, there is plenty between the covers that would give the vapors to many RNC delegates.
But Zelman said that when the company received the July 13 issue that would appear in its cars, he got a call from a marketing person who reminded him that there would be Trump supporters, delegates and other Republicans in Uber cars around Cleveland during the convention.
And Uber people didnāt consider that very obvious point before agreeing to place the alt-weekly in its cars? Dot One connects to Dot Two ā it aināt that danged difficult. If I were the folks at this paper and Iād already secured an agreement, Iād be more than just a little pissed about Uber backing out of that agreement.
ETA: If Iād already promised ads to local businesses being available as reading material to tourists in taxis during one of the busiest weeks of the year ā¦ yeah, Iād be pissed.
They expect a ābi-partisan vibeā at the Republican convention?
Itās the July 13 issue, folks. Your second paragraph says itās the June 13 issue.
Every time I see an interview with the Uber creators, I feel like I need a bath afterwards. Same with AirB&B.
Backing out: itās what they do.
Truly.
A spokesperson for Uber said in a statement emailed to TPM on Thursday that āour goal is to
celebrate Clevelandsqueeze more cash from riders than a rent boy at a Moral Majority convention andhelp provide mobilityrefuse service to the disabled during what promises to bea busy time for the citythe biggest slave-labor scam since āRight to Workā. Weāll leave the politics tothe punditsour well-paid lobbyists greasing city councils all across America.ā
Fixed.
"They felt that carrying our paper would take away from that bipartisan vibe because of the comics poking fun of some of the Republican establishment,ā Zelman told BuzzFeed.
Some of the republican establishment?
Bipartisan: racist, fascists nuts vs sane people.
Glad Iām leaving for CA on Monday. My grandchildren definitely take precedence over the crapshow this convention is going to be.
Stay safe, Cleveland.
Yeah, I love our alt weekly too. The LEO is awesome and they eviscerated the NRA the week they held their evil convention here, but I completely understand Uberās position purely from a business/customer oriented perspective. At the same time, DUH, ya big dummies, what did you think the liberal paper was going to do? Were you expecting a Cleveland Rocks! edition?
What did the alternate newspaper expect? The paper may be free, but its message was contrary to the image the city is trying to project. A service agency like Uber needs to stay away from politics for its own well-being. Putting the paper into all of its cars during the GOP convention puts Uber over the non-partisan line.
Iām no friend of the GOP, but for the newspaper to complain seems a bit naive. Their prank got caught out. Big deal. Donāt complain; put the papers in the box outside the strip joints and next to the gay papers box. The GOPers will eat them up.
Youāre amazing. Truly.
And the alt mag should have known that there is no way a large company was going to promote that magazine during the RNC. But they almost certainly did know that. And now they get a lot of free promotion.
While I totally understand Uberās point about wishing to remain non-partisan ā but they should have thought about that before agreeing to place the paper in their vehicles during a political convention. From my POV, the paper does have a right to a bit of a bitch session here. Uber higher-ups are supposed to be smarter than that ā and by that, I mean, they should think, āWell, thatās the big convention weekend, this is an alt-weekly (which tend to almost always have a political slant one way or the other) ā¦ I wonder what theyāll be running on their cover or be headlining with?ā
That said, if there was no contract signed, then grumble is about all the paper can do. Hopefully theyāve both learned a lesson here. One, Uber should be smart enough to ask these simple questions; and Two, donāt trust Uber.
Then why did Uber agree to do so ahead of time? Iāll admit there is a learning lesson for both sides here. When working with another business entity, get a signed contract.
Being local to Cleveland, the Scene is mostly about music and entertainment but will get a really serious topic covered fairly regularly. This is definitely consistent with the tone of the paper in general.
Thatās - oh, I just canāt evenā¦
Signed,
A voter in Austin, Texas
Yup always, always get it in writing. Make sure thereās a penalty clause to.
And all this is newsworthy becauseā¦?
God forbid republicans are confronted with truth.