

Uber launches on demand Mariachi band for $100 - iag
http://blog.uber.com/2012/05/01/on-demand-mariachi-fiestas/

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pud
Uber is brilliant at this type of thing.

Motorcades for Presidents day: [http://blog.uber.com/2012/02/16/this-
presidents-day-take-a-t...](http://blog.uber.com/2012/02/16/this-presidents-
day-take-a-trip-in-the-ubercade/)

Roses for Valentines day: [http://blog.uber.com/2011/02/10/valentines-day-go-
from-zero-...](http://blog.uber.com/2011/02/10/valentines-day-go-from-zero-to-
hero/)

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untog
OK, I'm going to be the downer guy in this thread: I don't care about any of
this. I want Uber to improve their app and make their pricing more
transparent.

Still waiting on that. Every marketing stunt they do backfires on me, because
I see a company being distracted from their main product.

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pbreit
You're right, that's a downer and a complete lack of understanding of what it
takes to get the public's attention. The best, most perfect app in the world
would not stand a chance against Uber's very good app and brilliant marketing.

Every ride I've taken with Uber has been exactly the fee presented _before_
getting in the vehicle and with no tip expected. I'm not sure how much more
transparent that needs to be. If you are referring to people who unexpectedly
paid more on NYE, I can only sympathize a little. It's NEW YEARS EVE!!

~~~
bengl3rt
_Every ride I've taken with Uber has been exactly the fee presented before
getting in the vehicle and with no tip expected._

Eh? At what point do you give it a destination so that it can present you with
an estimated price?

The only time it displays an estimated price RANGE is during surge pricing.

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jeffclark
Airport trips in Boston are flat-fee trips.

~~~
samstave
And in SF ($65 flat fee)

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oskarth
I think this is just a premonition of what's to come.

Fast forward a couple of years, add in a ban (semi-optional) on visual
advertising a la Sao Paulo, mix with freebee creative advertising, season with
flash mob and suddenly our future could become extremely odd and confusing.
Anyone who's not a fan of absurdism will have a hard time living in a
metropolitan city.

~~~
Karunamon
I love this kind of thing - random absurdism in unexpected places. It pulls
people out of their comfort zone in a non-threatening way where everybody gets
a good chuckle.

The look on the guy's face as the band steps out of the elevator? That's one
of my favorite things to cause to happen to other people - it's just plain
_fun_ all around.

~~~
tomjen3
I disagree. There is a large mental overhead associated with these kinds of
things and living in cities is all about choosing where to spend ones mental
energy - since there isn't enough to see everything.

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arvinS
How will San Franciscans combat offensive deployments of the Mariachi? Will
this lead to retaliatory strikes of Chinese street opera?

~~~
samstave
This shall not stand! QUICK send in the Streisand Squad!

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frogtown
This would have been so useful years ago. I think it was 1996 or so. Most of
my friends were still in college but I had already had my startup running. It
was early enough in the dot com era that my business was designed to make
money, so I had a decent amount of cash in comparison to my universally
impoverished university buddies.

Anyhow, my best friends were throwing this weekend house party where all the
local freaks, geeks, and hipsters would be in attendance. So when my best
friend called me to convince me to come in for the party that weekend, for
whatever reason, I had this dumb idea. Perhaps this was a harbinger of the
pre-dot-com opulence to come and the idea, of course, was on a much smaller
scale but nevertheless, for no reason whatsoever except that I had for the
first time in my life a bunch of cash burning a hole in my pocket, I suggested
we get a mariachi band for the party. My friend looked into it. He found a
group. He told me the amount for the basic band. I forget what was going to
cost $250 extra to bring along as a musician (maybe an extra trumpet) but it
all seemed very worth it. We needed the proper instrumentation represented.

When the band arrived with the party in full swing, they were pretty freaked
out, since, this was not the normal kind of gig they played; no, not collage
parties. So the woman dealing with the thing asked for half the cash up front.
She also upped the price a bunch from the initial agreed upon amount but I
didn't care. I was really just looking forward to seeing them play near the
tapped keg around a bunch of mystified acquaintances. Now if I could have only
gotten this done for $100, I would have filled the whole house with competing
acts that night. Great work Über and thanks for bring back a fond memory.

~~~
georgemcbay
"Now if I could have only gotten this done for $100, I would have filled the
whole house with competing acts that night. Great work Über and thanks for
bring back a fond memory."

$100 here only gets you one song, though. This is a very good marketing idea,
but not a cost effective way to hire a band for a real gig.

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nthitz
Hope they pay those bands adequately!

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igorsyl
Is this available in SF only?

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ylem
From the link, it seems to be :<

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truebosko
Don't need an on demand Mariachi band, just go for a walk in Manhattan and
you'll be bound to have one show up before the days end :) (Atleast from my
experience..)

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daeken
Out of curiosity, where have you had this happen? I've lived in the East
Village (well, technically Alphabet City) for a year and a half and I've never
experienced roaming Mariachi bands. I feel like I'm missing out.

~~~
three14
IIRC, I would tend to run into them on the A train or the 1, north of 59th.

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iag
This is simply brilliant. Travis you are the man!

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pfraze
Well, that is pretty awesome. Expanding the selection of orderable services is
an interesting way for uber to grow.

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somneri
When did HN become product advertisement board? Whats next? A posting for all-
new minty Pepsodent with added whitening?

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sixQuarks
incredible marketing scheme! I love it.

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RedwoodCity
quatro de mayo?

