Uber formally announced the debut of its advertising network, Journey Ads, this Wednesday.
The platform will display ads to riders during their trips. With new privacy laws and features making it harder to track consumers, companies—like Uber—that have a captive audience have a leg up on their competition.
Uber has been testing the advertising function since August of 2021. The general manager of the new advertising division is Mark Grether, former director of Amazon Advertising. Grether said the platform will combine location-based and shopping data for “closed-loop attribution.”
“We believe Uber is paving the way for a new category: mobility media,” Grether told Adweek. “Leveraging our first-party data and insights across both our mobility and delivery businesses presents the world’s largest companies with compelling new ways to reach people.”
In related news, DoorDash announced Monday that it will be expanding its advertising network.
cards against humanity creates actual mayonnaise packaging
Cards Against Humanity has announced its newest packaging for its extension pack: a jar of mayonnaise.
They are calling the clam-flavored mayo “Clam-O-Naise,” and it’s available exclusively at Target. The theme of the included cards is “the sexual possibilities of shellfish.”
The mayonnaise is actually edible, and the cards are submerged within an “FDA-approved vacuum-packed food-safe mayo-proof card-wrapping system,” according to the website, which is appropriately named clams.lol.
“We’re not fucking with you: we worked with a team of chefs and food scientists to make it actually delicious, and then we actually submerged 30 new cards and a MYSTERY CLAM-O-PRIZE deep inside the mayonnaise.”
-Cards Against Humanity
Is this clearly just a stunt to alarm, delight, and/or disgust us into buying more Cards Against Humanity? Yes.
But for a brand whose key audience is people who like weird sex jokes, we think this makes total sense. While you won’t catch us sticking our hands into jars of mayonnaise, the people who are down for that will probably love the game and this stunt, so good on Cards Against Humanity for knowing their audience.
Other news
- Unless you don’t know a single woman (or missed Amazon’s Thursday Night Football broadcast), you probably already know that Taylor Swift released her new album, Midnights, this week. Check out this analysis of her puzzle-oriented marketing strategy.
- Instagram announced new safety tools this week, but users aren’t particularly impressed.
- Robert Ritz did an in-depth data analysis of Airbnb’s cleaning fees in various cities, and Austin is the most expensive.
- The Houston Symphony updated its logo and branding (courtesy of Austin, TX-based FÖDA), and we think it’s gorgeous.
That’s all for this week‘s Marketing Roundup. Check back next week for more news. And subscribe to our newsletter below for additional updates.
