Uber and Lyft offer dueling Beyoncé promotions for her ‘Cowboy Carter’ album

Uber and Lyft are always trying to outdo each other, but the latest battle between the rideshare services is roping in one of the biggest musical acts of the 21^st Century. Call it Showdown at the Queen Bey Corral.

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album dropped on March 29, with 27 new songs in what AP is calling “a Black reclamation of country music.” The album was five years in the making and is widely seen as the artist’s response to a racist backlash that followed her appearance on the 2016 CMA Awards. It quickly jumped to the top of the charts.

The release sets the stage for what could be an epic sales battle this year between Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, whose highly anticipated 11th album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, will release on April 19. So it’s not hard to see why companies are looking to hitch a ride on Beyoncé’s cowboy coattails to win over the hive.

It started Thursday when Uber unveiled a 16% discount for riders who used the code 16CARRIAGES, one of the album’s first song releases. (Uber first teased the news on Wednesday with video of a white horse, which looked a lot like the one on the album’s cover running in circles.)

Heading to a #COWBOYCARTER listening party tonight? We are such huge fans and want to give you 16% off your Uber ride (up to $16) when using code 16CARRIAGES. Availability is limited so you better giddyup! Details below. 👑🐝🤠

Promotion is valid in U.S. only from 9:00pm ET on… pic.twitter.com/iz0HeVHNNO

— Uber (@Uber) March 28, 2024

In most circumstances, that would be the end of the story. But this is Beyoncé. And this is also Uber and Lyft. So things were just getting started.

At the urging of an X (formerly Twitter) user, Lyft decided to raise the stakes, offering 50% off rides (on March 29 only) for riders who used the code SPAGHETTI24, name-dropping another song from Cowboy Carter (a "> rap track featuring Linda Martell and Shaboozey that’s nestled amid the more traditional offerings).

done. use code SPAGHETTI24 for 50% off your ride on 3/29 🐝🍝

(valid until 11:59 P.M. on 3/29. good for half off one lyft ride up to $20. availability is limited—if you miss this one, follow us for other code drops soon!) https://t.co/oVy8DALERr

— Lyft (@lyft) March 28, 2024

Lyft didn’t stop there. On Friday morning, the company dropped another code—for 60% off rides—along with a “message” from their CEO saying “omg this album slaps.”

say less king

use code LYFTIING for 60% off your ride today 🐝

(valid until 11:59 P.M. on 3/29. good for 60% off one lyft ride up to $20. availability is limited—if you miss this one, follow us for other code drops soon!) pic.twitter.com/mZzu5bwI2A

— Lyft (@lyft) March 29, 2024

The company even teased replacing the cars on its in-app menu with white horses, though that appeared to be more catering to the fans. (Cars are still cars in the app.)

Uber, for its part, has not taken the Lyft social media bait and has continued to offer its original discount.

Lyft has been getting the best of Uber on the marketing front for a while now. A few weeks ago, the company partnered with social media influencer Carrington, whose videos of so-called sounds to use if you feel unsafe in an Uber have inspired a slew of parodies and homages, beating Uber to the punch.

Within 24 hours, the company said it saw over 200,000 organic views and a 17% engagement rate, triple what the company usually sees.

Lyft might be eating Uber’s lunch on the marketing front of late, but in the arena that matters, Uber is still king. The company’s shares are currently just shy of $77 (versus $19.35 for Lyft). And in the fourth quarter, Uber beat analyst expectations with earnings of 66 cents per share (versus forecasts of 17 cents) and revenues of $9.94 billion versus $9.76 billion expected.

Lyft, meanwhile, briefly saw a 63% surge in its stock price, but that vanished when the company sheepishly acknowledged it had made a typo in its earnings announcement. It posted revenue of $1.22 billion, but did handily beat earnings expectations, coming in at 18 cents per share, versus an expected 8 cents. Lyft added that it expects to be cash-flow positive in 2024, for the first time.

Uber currently holds about 70% of the U.S. rideshare market, according to market research firm YipitData. Lyft has said it expects ride growth to rise in the mid-teens-percentage range this year.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91072029/uber-and-lyft-offer-dueling-beyonce-promotions-for-her-cowboy-carter-album?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss