After Lyft’s campaign to transport voters and help find their polling stations last November, the ride-hailing company is doing something similar to celebrate Women’s History Month. For the whole month of March, riders in New York City can access free lifts up to $10 to five “inspirational locations” that celebrate important female figures.
In today’s age of “who’s the woke-est,” brands and companies constantly try to one-up each other. To that end, Lyft has seamlessly integrated social awareness into their business campaigns.
If you’re feeling nerdy, you can catch a ride to the Center for Women’s History at the New York Historical Society in Manhattan; visit abolitionist icon Harriet Tubman’s memorial statue in Harlem to honor the contributions of women of color; shop your heart out and buy some feminist goodies at Bulletin on Broadway or Lockwood in Astoria; or, get educated on women artists and female muses at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. Order a Lyft ride to any of these locations and you could get there for free (a one-time offer, so long as it’s under 10 bucks). New York riders can use the code WHMNYC19 to access this sweet deal.
No representatives from the company were available to speak more about Lyft’s latest campaign. But they did team up with former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett, to push the campaign forward.
“Learning important lessons from the women who’ve made their mark in history, and recognizing so many of them are just everyday people, should empower people to feel like, ‘I can do something, too,’” Jarrett, who also sits on Lyft’s board of directors, explained in a promotional video on the company’s blog. In the video, Jarrett cited some of her go-to spots for when she needs to feel inspired. One of her favorite places is the National Portrait Gallery, where Michelle Obama’s popular portrait was unveiled a year ago.
“I’ve been to the [National] Portrait Gallery several times just to look at it,” Jarrett said of the former first lady’s painting. “There are so many young girls of every color, who now look at her as a symbol and someone they can look up to. But also, someone who they can reach.”
According to an email from the company’s PR agency, Lyft will also launch a social content series highlighting female Lyft drivers and hosting local meet-ups to “help further relationships within the driver community.” An important initiative given the pervasive sexism and harassment notorious among tech companies similar to Lyft, though the company has largely remained unscathed by scandals, unlike its competitor Uber. Women-forward policies from the company are even more essential in New York City, where only six percent of Lyft drivers in the city are women (by comparison, women makeup 27 percent of Lyft’s drivers nationwide).
Lyft’s Women’s History Month promotion is available in 33 cities across the US and Canada, ushering patrons to museums, memorials, and women-owned businesses.
All images courtesy of Lyft.
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