Dyeing your facial hair in bright colors is (kinda) totally in right now but fuzzy pink mustaches are so 2014. We know this thanks to a Wired story that Lyft has decided to send its pink mustaches to heaven, right next to all the St. Christopher medallions people used to hang from their rearview mirrors. Pretty soon, nobody’s Altima is going to look like Mr. Pringle was huffing crumbs of Strawberry Pocky ever again.
The fuzzy “carstaches” were on the way out, anyway, replaced by more subtle “glowstaches” that drivers affix to their dashboards next to the their ankhs and Madison Bumgarner Bobbleheads. There’s a simple reason for it, too. Lyft has raised some $330 million on a valuation of $850 million, and will gladly trade in its happy-go-lucky utopian vibe in order to raise yet more. Since Uber remains a powerhouse in spite its oft reported hijinks, it’s apparently not enough for Lyft co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer to refrain from making outrageous remarks like Uber’s Travis Kalanick in hope that their rival will eventually implode. By trying to out-hustle the competition in the upper echelons of VC power, Lyft decided it needed to exude a more grown-up image. That’s probably why the fist-bumps got phased out, too.
I asked a few SF Lyft drivers what they thought about this shift from the fuzzy to glowing stache. Two told me they’d intentionally stopped flaunting their visibility, anyway (although neither went so far as to torch the staches to protest changes in company policy). Although SFMTA rules mandate that ride-share vehicles mark their cars in some way, “a lot of drivers probably go stealth to avoid taxi harassment. I don’t put the ‘stache up until just before I pick up a passenger,” one said. Noting that people increasingly expect black Town Car professionalism from their temporary best buds, another driver said this change paled beside the fluctuations in business strategy — specifically, the plummeting rates Lyft charges in its price war with Uber. “Sorry to be negative, but I’ve got one foot out the door,” he said.
It wouldn’t be the first pink brand icon that didn’t work out. Remember the London Olympics logo? People said it looked like a sex act between the Simpsons, and Lyft’s switcheroo hardly rates compared to that. I wish the company the best of luck going for the clean shaven glowstick look to impress the investors.
[Via Wired, photo from Thinkstock]
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