Mane Course? Uber Eats Delivered on Horseback
A video of a horseback delivery has gone viral, but Uber Eats is not ready to trot the service out everywhere.
By Elon Altman · April 22, 2024
Disclaimer: While this article is based on promptly delivered facts, it does contain some droppings of satire, so watch your step.
You’re more likely to get horse delivered as your meal than to get your meal delivered by horse, but that’s precisely what happened in the Paddington suburb of Sydney, Australia. A viral TikTok showed a man in an Uber Eats uniform riding a horse down the sidewalk. One would almost think it was a scene out of the 1800s if not for the iPhones, the electric lights, the cars, the paved streets, and the women wearing pants. Still, it was quite a spectacle.
"It shocked everyone. Even my 14-year-old looked up from her phone for a second."
Most observers believed it was some kind of publicity stunt, but Uber denied that they had anything to do with it. Uber even made its employment list public, and there is no record of any equine workers on the company payroll. To further corroborate Uber’s denial, the horse was asked if Uber put him up to this stunt, and he replied, “Neigh.”
So, how does a horseback Uber Eats delivery work? The rider used an iPhone attached to his helmet for GPS, but he still ran into trouble because the horse was frequently distracted whenever it saw a patch of grass to chew on. The delivery was also slowed by the horse stopping three times to relieve itself, which is two more times than the average UberEats delivery.
The delivery guy made up time by putting the horse into a full gallop, and although the pizza arrived with half the slices upside down and the bottle of Coke completely shaken up, the customer was impressed that the food arrived at all. The customer gave the horse a tip—a carrot—but as per company policy, Uber took 40% of it.