This CEO quit Trump's advisory group and you won't believe what happened next

So, did everybody #DeleteUber and are they financially wounded by consumers voting with their virtual wallets? Not quite. On 2nd February, the company's CEO, Travis Kalanic, stood down from Trump's advisory committee despite having told his employees a few days earlier it was important they had "a seat at the table."

He emailed staff to tell them that being part of Trump's advisory group had been "misinterpreted" as an "endorsement of the President." He then listed three of the company's values (was this the first time he'd checked that particular page on the intranet?!) and added some commentary about how they did or didn't align with Trump's immigration agenda. 

Please don't go

A victory for people power then? The damage to Uber's bottom line from the deleted accounts a few weeks ago will unlikely be more than a blip but the erosion of trust with its core base has begun.

When former employee Susan Fowler alleged sexual harassment on 19th February, #DeleteUber bubbled up to the surface again and this time the company even created a tailored message to try and grab at the coattails of customers as they walked out the door. Not a good look.

Who's next for the #Delete treatment?

Elsewhere, pressure is mounting on businesses that advertise with and supply services to Breitbart. Shopify powers Breitbart's merchandise store and Amazon is one of the big businesses that hasn't withdrawn programmatic advertising from the site.

Campaign group SumOfUS is leading the charge to #DeleteShopify while Sleeping Giants has yet to illicit a response from Jeff Bezos. Can these businesses claim "freedom of speech" by not taking a stance either way? The "just because I work with him, doesn't mean I endorse him" line didn't work out too well for Uber.

#DeleteRory?

And just when we thought there were still a few things sacred in this new divisive politics, even Rory McIlroy of golf fame came a cropper the other day. He seemed strangely shocked that - as a famous sportsperson and role model to many - some people might be just a bit disappointed that he'd chosen to have a chummy round of golf with the Donald. 

MAKING GOLF POLITICAL AGAIN

MAKING GOLF POLITICAL AGAIN

But it's just golf! spluttered poor Rory:

Oh Rory, wise up. You might think it wasn't a political statement but you need to get with 2017. These are divisive times Rory and you - like our brands, celebs and CEOS - live in the public eye. For further clarification, here's a little ditty:

It's all political Rory and we don't live in a vacuum/golf course. Who we hang out with, where we spend our money, where we do our work and whether or not we choose to make a stand for the good of all our fellow humans. It's all political. Whether we like it or not.

 

 

 

 

Profit or principles? The story of #DeleteUber

Should we #DeleteUber?

Should we #DeleteUber?

Yesterday #DeleteUber started tending on Twitter. Not because of the way they treat their drivers or unfair surge pricing or the threat to "traditional" taxi drivers, but because they had broken an anti-Trump strike.

While the NY Taxi Workers Alliance joined the protest against the #MuslimBan and suspended pickups from JFK in solidarity, Uber announced it was continuing to service the airport and had turned off surge pricing.

What happened next may be played out many times during the Trump administration as big businesses are forced to choose sides and decide whether to follow profit or principles.

First, #DeleteUber started trending with many deleting their accounts and giving no-holds-barred feedback:

Next, Lyft - a rival ridesharing app - posted a couple of tweets from one of their founders, making it clear which side of the fence they were on:

Cue several responses like this:

Five hours after its "strike-breaking" tweet, Uber then tried to repair the damage and tweeted a link to a Facebook post of an internal email (are you still following?) from their CEO:

Many innocent people would be impacted, said Travis Kalanick in his tweet/Facebook post/internal email, and also promised to bring it up when he meets Trump at the end of the week as part of his business advisory group. His sign-off that "It's the magic of living in America that people are free to disagree," probably gave little comfort to the families driven apart by Trump's policy.

Next, Lyft cemented its position by emailing all its customers to again state that it disagrees with Trump's policy AND it was putting its money where it's mouth is by donating $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union over the next four years.

What's interesting here is that they chose to send an email to their existing customers rather than making a public statement. Of course, all their users rushed to screenshot and share the email on social media, but because the story came from them, Lyft sidestepped (mostly) any accusations of opportunism. It was only later that Lyft published a short blog called Defending Our Values.  

So, what to make of all this?

Should people who don't support Trump delete their Uber accounts because Uber "broke the strike" and because their CEO is part of Trump's cosy advisory group? What about the thousands of Uber drivers and their families who could suffer lost income as a result?

Should Lyft capitalise on its rival's position? Is every political protest also a marketing and PR opportunity? Should we even care what our brand of transport or entertainment or toothpaste has to say about it?

And should CEOs like Travis Kalanick join formal groups created to advise Trump? Many of Uber's own employees have denounced the link as embarrassing and called it out as a "pragmatic capitalist" move designed to protect the company against any legislation that could hinder its growth plans. Uber's own CTO Thuan Pham sent out an internal email calling Trump an "ignoramus" and warning that "things will get very ugly before his reign is over." He also rallies employees that "There is much work that we can do to help make this world a better place, through what we do here at work and in our society."

“There is much work that we can do to help make this world a better place, through what we do here at work and in our society.”
— Thuan Pham, Uber CTO

For Uber employees who are anti-Trump, is it better to stay and engage from the inside, or to turn their back on the company and work for Lyft or another business more aligned to their values? There have already been several well-documented resignations from businesses in Trump's advisory group.

For big businesses, is it better to have the ear of Trump and risk alienating many potential customers, or to engage with him (and endear yourself to another group of prospects), regardless of ethical disagreement.

And for consumers, should we boycott brands that don't share our standpoint? I haven't deleted my Uber app. Yet.