Uber ice cream promo leaves many left out in the cold

If the point of Uber Ice Cream was to get Vancouverites talking about the ride-hailing company, you could consider Friday’s promotional stunt, which saw Uber deliver free ice cream sandwiches all over the city, a success.

But if the point was to get people talking positively about Uber, maybe not.

On Thursday, Uber announced that its 25 mapping cars would be deployed throughout the city, delivering ice cream and other swag to anyone who requested it through the Uber app.

Vancouverites were understandably giddy. But by Friday’s end, they were much less so.

Right from the moment the promotion began, many users were met with an “Ice Cream Unavailable” message, as demand far outpaced supply throughout the day. While hundreds received the free ice cream sandwiches that Uber had promised, hundreds more did not, and took to social media to air their grievances.

To make matters worse, less than an hour after Uber Ice Cream ended, Earnest Ice Cream, which had provided the ice cream sandwiches, issued a statement distancing itself from Uber.

“Last week we made an agreement to sell ice cream sandwiches to a business whose values do not align with our own. As we educated ourselves more thoroughly about Uber, we recognized that this is not a good fit for us,” read part of the statement.

Still, Uber viewed the Uber Ice Cream promotion as a success.

“Uber Ice Cream was about connecting people in Vancouver with a local entrepreneur and to help contribute to a worthy cause,” said Uber spokesperson Susie Heath, adding money would go to The Vancouver Sun Adopt-A-School Fund.”