Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Uber Booked Half the Theater For the Opening Night of a Play Inspired By the Scandals that Took Down Former CEO Travis Kalanick (businessinsider.com)

Posted by msmash on from the pr-problem dept.

Uber booked more than half of the seats available for the London premiere of "Brilliant Jerks," a satirical play inspired by the car-ride startup's numerous scandals, and featuring a character similar to former CEO Travis Kalanick. From a report: The company purchased 50 of 90 available seats for the show's opening night at London's Vault theater, as originally reported by the Financial Times. The Financial Times reports that the play was inspired in part by the now-infamous blog post by Susan J. Fowler on Uber's toxic and sexist work culture, setting off a chain of events that ultimately led Kalanick to resign as chief executive of the company he cofounded. According to the Vault's website, "Brilliant Jerks tells the story of three people -- a driver, a coder, and a CEO -- working for one tech monolith, but living worlds apart."

33 comments

  1. That's cool by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

    That's cool -- they're funding a play that's mocking themselves, and the other half of the house is open. Not to mention that the empty seats can be re-sold after the show starts as no-shows. The theater can profit twice. Oh yeah, and screw Uber. Not for this, but for their business model. It's not ride-sharing or even self-driving cars. It's getting everyone into THEIR vehicles, and having the trip data tied to an identity. This data can then be easily sold to governments and marketeers.

    1. Re:That's cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who says they aren't going? They will probably have 50 paid people there to boo the entire performance. "Boo!!! Fake news!!!"

    2. Re: That's cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      50 auto - entrepreneurs that they pay 0.02$ a boo

  2. No good spin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is no good way for this to play out for Uber. Streisand effect much?

    1. Re:No good spin by rhazz · · Score: 0
      Except that...

      The ride-hailing app's social team booked the tickets, saying they regularly organize theater trips and that it would be "fun to see the production."

      They booked it so they could actually go see it.

    2. Re:No good spin by freeze128 · · Score: 2

      "Uber buys half of the tickets for mocking play, and gives tickets to employees!"

    3. Re:No good spin by fourbadgers · · Score: 1

      if this was vegas, what do you think they would have as the odds for that being their intention?

    4. Re:No good spin by rhazz · · Score: 1

      Pretty good? They're anti-competitive, they aren't stupid. Do you really think that in the current media climate any company is going to intentionally try to suppress any kind of media related to sexual harassment? There's no story here.

  3. Sounds familiar. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel, and a recluse.
    Before the day was over, they broke the rules.
    Bared their souls.
    And touched each other in a way they never dreamed possible.

    1. Re:Sounds familiar. by Hal_Porter · · Score: 1

      I can hear the song in my head already.

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
    2. Re:Sounds familiar. by Wintermute__ · · Score: 1

      Won't You - Come see about me..

  4. What's so fucking brilliant about Uber though? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They have a business model to cannibalize the regulated Taxi industry and pay employees as mere contractors. They have an App. Am I missing some magic pixie dust here?

    1. Re:What's so fucking brilliant about Uber though? by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

      They have a business model to cannibalize the regulated Taxi industry and pay employees as mere contractors. They have an App. Am I missing some magic pixie dust here?

      This is pretty much capitalism as normal. Where I live a 6 bed "clinic" recently opened up. It only does profitable low risk surgeries for insured patients. Basically, it is skimming the easy cases off the regular hospital. UPS/FedEx do the same thing with the postal service. Services that are contracted to provide universal coverage like taxis, hospitals, etc.. usually charge more for certain items to make up for losing money on other items and will always be at a huge disadvantage to someone who doesn't have to play by the rules and can only take jobs that are profitable.

    2. Re:What's so fucking brilliant about Uber though? by TimMD909 · · Score: 1

      They have a business model to cannibalize the regulated Taxi industry and pay employees as mere contractors. They have an App. Am I missing some magic pixie dust here?

      The magic pixie dust is in their autonomous driving division in Pittsburgh. I see their magic robot cars all the time, and even rode in one once. It was one of the coolest birthday gifts from a friend who's an engineer at Uber's ATC.

      As an aside, I love Pittsburgh and not just because the mild winter freezes out the weaklings. We get to do fun things here while affording a 2 bedroom house with garage for around $1000 a month. Commute times are generally around 20 minutes. Whenever I hear stories about engineers making over $100k a year living in their cars, I simply can't understand.

  5. HALF by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Uber Booked Half the Theater

    also...

    The company purchased 50 of 90 available seats

    Do they not teach math in schools any more? I mean, for chrissake.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:HALF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The last five seats had a sign hung over them saying "reserved for pedants"

    2. Re:HALF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's possible 10 seats were not considered ever being available, and it's strictly accurate.

    3. Re:HALF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apparently "they" teach math a little better than they teach basic writing and communication skills. When I learned these skills "half" in anywhere but a mathematics class room is an approximate concept, not an exact one.

    4. Re:HALF by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

      Uber Booked Half the Theater

      also...

      The company purchased 50 of 90 available seats

      Do they not teach math in schools any more?

      To be fair, Uber usually over-inflates most of their numbers, like earnings, popularity, how much their drivers actually earn ...

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    5. Re:HALF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      anything in the realm of 40-60% can be considered half

    6. Re:HALF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be fair, Uber usually over-inflates most of their numbers

      Would it be ok with you if they merely inflated them, instead of over-inflating them? At what point does it become "over"?

    7. Re:HALF by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      When I learned these skills "half" in anywhere but a mathematics class room is an approximate concept, not an exact one.

      That's kind of half-assed.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    8. Re:HALF by afranke · · Score: 1

      By booking more than half, they effectively also booked half. These 45 booked seats are included within the set of 50 booked sits. Are you the one who maybe skipped math class?

    9. Re:HALF by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      By booking more than half, they effectively also booked half.

      So, if your boss tells you to come in for half a day on Saturday, and then insists you work until 5pm, he can pay you for a half a day because effectively, you worked half a day?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    10. Re:HALF by jbengt · · Score: 1

      Sure. He can pay me for the first half of the day. And then pay me for the second half.

    11. Re:HALF by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      And if you work 75% of the day, you can expect to be paid for the whole day.

      I like the way you figure.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    12. Re:HALF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope you leave your car's tires to a professional.

    13. Re:HALF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really - if 55% of your ass gets cut off by Trump are you going to say "Trump cut off 55% of my ass" or "Trump cut off half my ass!"?

      Of course, knowing you, it'll be "Trump cut off my ass!"

    14. Re:HALF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope you leave your car's tires to a professional.

      I hope you leave your financial affairs to a professional. Some things are designed to be inflated. Financial records are not among those things.

    15. Re:HALF by denzacar · · Score: 1

      Boy... Did YOU piss off some modpoint farming snowflakes.

      I'm guessing it was the "No chaos" joke.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  6. Unfortunately ... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 2

    ... due to high demand for ride-shares that evening, most of the theater goers had to use Lyft.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  7. A play about sexual harrassment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I wanted to see a play about sexual harassment, I could sign up to retake our company's yearly mandatory training early... I haven't, because it doesn't sound like a fun and entertaining use of my time. I mean, sexual harassment is not exactly a fun topic.

  8. Some Things Never Change by BBF_BBF · · Score: 1

    New CEO, Same *sshole company attitude as before.