Skip to main content

Uber employees spray-painted a wall with the word ‘Undelete’

Uber employees spray-painted a wall with the word ‘Undelete’

/

Yikes

Share this story

Photo: 1AM

Uber’s official response to mounting public backlash over these past few months has been relatively assured. CEO Travis Kalanick has pledged to fix his company’s “toxic” culture through independent reviews and an overhaul of its hiring practices, employee training, and harassment reporting mechanisms. Internally, this appears to have been a cause for some celebration. What else to make of a group of 20 employees huddled together in front of a wall, which they have graffitied with the word (and hashtag!) “#Undelete”?

The tone-deaf art project comes in response to the #DeleteUber campaign, which resulted in the termination of hundreds of thousands of the ride-hailing company’s accounts since the start of the year. “Undelete” was created with help from 1AM, a San Francisco-based group that “represents the freedom of speech through our urban art exhibitions, public murals, and experiences.”

Photo: 1AM

It supports graffiti artists and other creators in the Bay Area, but also hosts team-building exercises for tech companies to learn more about the city and the street art that decorates the Mission (while also donating to support the cause).

Most corporate team-building exercises stay private. But 1AM (it’s short for “First Amendment”) posted a series of photos of the event online roughly a week and a half ago. Which is how we know that Uber’s internal effort to kickstart an #Undelete campaign, which came in part over controversies related to harassment and sexism, appears to have been spearheaded by 19 men and 1 woman.

Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment.