By Brenda Flanagan
Correspondent
Three little kittens peered from their carrier as Uber delivered them to the Carlos Bakery corporate offices in Jersey City, where they popped out onto a conference room table and fearlessly took over the joint.
“I like all of them,” said Tommy Huynh. “They’re so cute. I love them all.”
Instead of watching cat videos online, workers cuddled an authentic armful of furry, purry felines. Welcome to #UberKittens, that singular day when the car service app offers a kitten icon. Swipe it, and order up a bouncy, pouncy trio, delivered right to your office. The cost is $30 for 15 minutes of frisky joy and snuggles.
“A lot of people are really excited. They get the email, they say, ‘oh my gosh, kittens’ and you can just tap it on the app. You get them within 15 minutes at most, and then your day is brightened,” said Uber spokesperson Craig Ewer.
Office workers without cat toys used strands of their own hair to amuse their little guests.
“Yeah, I saw it. It’s a great stress relief. It’s a good thing to do during the day. I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to playing with them,” said Aziz Hasan.
“They absolute need to be socialized to be friendly with humans, so it helps get them adopted. And the other thing is they’re the ambassadors here. So, they’re passing the message along that there are kittens and cats in needs of homes,” said Liberty Humane Society volunteer Denise Scholz.
It’s the first year Uber offered its kittens in New Jersey, and demand quickly outstripped supply.
“At Uber we love animals, and today is the day we can use our technology to connect cat lovers with adorable, adoptable kittens. This is the third year we’ve done UberKittens and we’ve seen tremendous results in the past. That’s why this year we’re doing UberKittens in more than 50 cities,” said General Manager for Uber NJ Ana Mahony.
“We’ve also done UberPuppies on different years, but that has yet to come to New Jersey,” said Ewer.
100 percent of the proceeds goes to the animal shelter in each city. In Hoboken and Jersey City it’s the Liberty Humane Society, which hopes their UberKittens capture someone’s heart and, eventually, get adopted.
“There is an application form to be filled out, and they would get in touch. We’d give all that information out. Then they’d come down to the shelter,” said Scholz.
“She’s awesome. Once I got her calmed down she’s just very loving,” said Kevin Persuad.
Here’s another marketing tip: shelter officials say if you get two kittens they’ll keep each other company. In the interest of full disclosure, I don’t have two cats, I have four.