As a consumer I like Uber. I can order a cab, get the estimated time of arrival, the name of the driver and the car number immediately. In addition, I can track the movement of the car on the map and it gives me cheap thrills. Uber is a boon when my children want to be picked up and I am far away; they don’t need money because my credit card gets charged. I don’t mind the surge pricing either because in the Manhattan rush hours I never manage to hail down a cab.
I have been following the backlash on Uber’s Emil Michael’s comments on negative publicity and his suggestion that the Company should spend a million dollars to discredit the journalists who speak out against them. Michael has since apologized and Uber has chosen to distance itself from the comment as well.
This is what I don’t get - Michael was not making a public speech or speaking in front of a group of investors. He was not presenting a strategy plan to his superiors. Rather he was at a private dinner and made these comments informally to a group of people he trusted. If these comments were leaked to the world why should he be forced to apologize? Why should he resign? After all his privacy was also being impacted!
We all indulge in the kind of talk that Michael is guilty of. At dinner with friends we vent about colleagues and superiors, we fantasize about scenarios where we have enough power to overcome problems and offer crazy solutions that will eliminate the trouble makers in our lives. Even if we claim otherwise, we do get upset with negative comments and publicity. We have secret codes and petty nicknames for people we are bothered about, mimic them and gossip about them. All of us make racist, casteist, sexist and gender comments when we are with our own.
Sara Lacy was one of the journalists Michael mentioned and this is what she said ,"When you do opposition research on someone, particularly with a million-dollar budget and a six-person team, it's not going Googling someone's name. It's going through their trash. It's following their kids on the way to school. It's having vans parked outside their house, all because I said things the company didn't like." Is this a reality? Atleast not yet, but it does paint a scary picture of Big Brother Uber watching over someone and intimidating them.
In my opinion, Michael’s comments have been blown out of context. It is simple to conjure up the image of a monster firm that will use one’s data for nefarious activities, intimidate opposition and follow one around like the mafia. Most of the times that is not true. Many firms are creating new products to make life easier for the consumer. And most of these firms have honest ethical people leading them who are simply trying to keep their heads above water.
We need to keep a little faith!
