Get her a lyft… before Pete Davidson does…

The Coolr Effect

– Lyft’s most viral organic social post ever
– 7.6M Twitter impressions with zero paid media (vs ~9.6k benchmark)
– 41M total impressions including meme amplification
– Gold Honour – Real-Time Response at the Shorty Awards

The Story

Lyft, the US ride sharing app, was on a mission to reshape its brand by seeking cultural relevance with a social-first Gen Z and Millennial audiences. As Lyft’s social AOR we were looking for moments where the brand could show up naturally across social platforms. Enter Pete Davidson…

In the wake of his high-profile breakup with Kim Kardashian (and his previous A-list partners), speculation around Pete’s next relationship dominated Reddit, Twitter and TikTok. We knew one thing for certain: when he was next spotted dating, the internet would explode. So we stayed alert.

When TMZ broke the story that Pete was possibly dating Emily Ratajkowski, we moved fast. Really fast. Within minutes, Lyft dropped an eight-word post that perfectly inserted the brand into the cultural moment – without feeling branded: “Call her a Lyft or Pete Davidson will.”

Cue pandemonium across social but especially in Lyft’s comment section: more than 75 big brands jumped into our replies putting their own twist on the conversation, driving our reach further. Traditional media and consumers went wild for the post… and it went even further as shops and café’s adopted the line in-store to promote their own products.

The Takeaway

– Reactive beats planned — if you’re smart
– Humour generates engagement like nothing else
– Culture doesn’t wait for approvals