• by Tanya Gazdik , April 2, 2024

Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter” country music album is inspiring dueling marketing promotions from rival rideshare companies Lyft and Uber. 

It started when Uber unveiled a 16% discount for riders who used the code 16CARRIAGES, one of the album’s first song releases.

The ride-share app shared its announcement via X -- to which competitor Lyft replied, "crumbs were left," implying Uber could have done better. 

“The sass instantly started creating social media buzz among Uber and Lyft users, as well as fans of Beyoncé, collectively known as the BeyHive," according to Inc." "An X user replied to Lyft's sassy comment with a heated suggestion: ‘Now offer 50% off rides for 3/29 to whack em.’"

Lyft quickly announced a promotion of 50% off rides for Beyoncé fans taking rides on March 29 until 11:59 p.m. when they use the code SPAGHETTI24, for up to $20 on just one ride. It added that codes were limited, but more offers would "drop soon" in its tweet.

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

Bantering with competitors is certainly one way to use social media for brand awareness, according to Inc. “In general, having greater traction on social media marketing can be beneficial to converting followers into customers: 38% of people have recommended a brand they ‘like’ or follow on a social network, according to a report by Invesp marketing consultancy."

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

“In the words of Beyoncé’ herself, ‘always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper,’” according to Uproxx. 

Indeed, in the arena that matters, Uber is still king, 

“The company’s shares are currently just shy of $77 (versus $19.35 for Lyft,)” notes Fast Company. “ 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.”