Uber kicks off the holidays with Christmas tree deliveries
Not up to wrangling with a Christmas tree this year? Let the on-demand car service do it for $135.
Uber passengers may be getting a faint whiff of pine trees in their next ride. That's because the car service is kicking off a promotion to deliver Christmas trees to customers' doorsteps.
To promote its service, Uber has teamed up with The Home Depot to deliver on-demand Christmas trees in 10 US cities for one-day only. On Thursday, people will be able to open their Uber smartphone app, click on "UberTree," and have a freshly cut Christmas tree and stand at their home or office within minutes.
"Instead of spending your weekend wrestling with a tree from the not-so-near farm or slushy street corner, kick back, pour yourself an extra glass of eggnog and watch your app as Uber takes care of the heavy lifting," Uber wrote in a blog post.
The car service warns that users should expect high demand, so it's a first-come, first-serve kind of deal. The whole shebang costs $135 for a 7- to 8-foot Fraser or Noble Fir. Users can also split the cost using Uber's fare-splitting feature.
This isn't the first time that Uber has dabbled in on-demand delivery. The company, which started as an on-demand black car service, has done promotional deliveries with ice cream, Valentine's Day roses, helicopters, and BBQ. In October, the car service even brought cuddly little kittens to people's homes. CEO Travis Kalanick hinted earlier this year that on-demand everything via the car service could be around the corner.
Uber's Christmas tree promotion will take place December 5 starting at 11 a.m. and lasting until 8 p.m. local times (or until trees run out). It will be available in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.