If you’ve been on Twitter this morning, then you have probably already seen everyone begging for Uber to bring them a kitten. No, the on-demand ride service has not pivoted.
Apparently today is National Cat Day, a special day that was established to encourage people to adopt cats rather than buy them at pet shops, and Uber, with the help of Cheezburger — the company behind the Lolcats cat memes — is offering the special kitten delivery service, “I Can Has Uber Kitten,” as a way to raise awareness and money for participating shelters. Not to mention a little buzz for Uber.
The promotion, in Lolcat-speak, is called “I Can Has Uber Kitten” and is taking place today from 11am to 4pm in New York City, San Francisco and Seattle. All you have to do is download the Uber app if you don’t already have it and select the “kittens” option. For $20 you can get a 15-minute kitten visit and some cupcakes by celeb pastry chef Duff Goldman of “Ace of Cakes” fame (thought not the chef himself).
The special Uber cat cars have adoption papers ready, should you decide to take one of the kittens home. Uber will also give you a $50 credit if you end up adopting a cat. All of the proceeds go to ASPCA, San Francisco SPCA and Seattle Humane Society.
That is, if you are actually able to get a kitten delivery. In New York City, there are only three cat vehicles currently going around, according to Ben Huh, founder and CEO of Cheezburger. And Digiday has tried, with no success, to get one to come to our offices.
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“There’s a huge demand, you have to get lucky!” said Huh.
Clearly this was the perfect brand opportunity for Cheezburger — Buzzfeed is probably kicking itself for not getting in there first.
As for Uber, this isn’t the first time the savvy car service has created online buzz from a special promotional delivery stunt. This summer Uber had a special ice cream delivery service and rose delivery for Valentine’s Day. Just in the past two hours Uber has been mentioned more than 4,000 times, according to Topsy.
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