SpecialGuest Goes Ride-Or-Die-For in Lyft's New "Check Lyft" Campaign

Sep. 22, 2025

SpecialGuest, the independent, fully integrated advertising agency, has launched an influencer-led campaign to show Gen Z and Millennials why Lyft, which also offers Citi Bike rentals in app, is the obvious first choice for traversing the streets of New York and San Francisco.

The campaign partners with four popular influencers who show how their social and work lives depend on the flexible and cost-effective choices Lyft offers. Kareem Rahma (aka @subwaytakes) shares an absurdly convoluted day-in-the-life video in which he uses Citi Bike all day to commute from Brooklyn into Manhattan ("Work Island," he jokes) where he pretends to work in his tiny office, then hunt down lunch, run to the post office, meet his manager, pick up his suit, return to work, shoot a video on the subway, then return to Brooklyn. Kareem is literally the poster child for the gig economy and relies on Lyft as his operating system.

Changing up the tone, Taryn Delanie, the influencer, model and podcast host, posts a video in which she has a cringingly awkward conversation with a bestie over who should check the Lyft to get them to the West Village. Winking at her followers, Taryn subtly mentions how she "got" the Lyft on their previous excursions (thus saving money sharing rides), but her friend (not shown), plays dumb and the passive-aggressive game gets weirder and weirder. The work shows how Lyft is there even when friendships run up on the curb. Upcoming influencer content will be posted by nail artist and sculptor Ameya Okamoto and "food hacker" Anderson Nguyen.

Aaron Duffy, co-founder / ECD, SpecialGuest said:

"The goal of this campaign is to speak the language of young people to show them why Lyft is the first choice to get around San Francisco and New York. We know this audience has a strong desire to live their fullest, best lives and we want to show them examples of how Lyft can help them live more by spending less."

 

The influencer content is supported with aggressively snarky OOH work that includes urban billboards that blare, “Hey, Daddy. Check Lyft for Lyft Silver.” The content will run on OOH, OLV, organic and paid social and audio channels in New York and San Francisco and include YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Prime, Twitch, Netflix, Reddit, Pinterest, GumGum, Native Touch, transportation-hub live boards (BART, Caltrain), billboards and subway boards, taxi toppers, Citi Bike and Bay Wheels bike kiosks, LinkNYC kiosks, bus shelters, atmospheric TVs in bars and gyms and audio on Spotify and Sirius XM.

Brian Irving, Lyft CMO said:

"When talking to our audiences about why they choose Lyft, it’s a combination of emotional and rational decisions. You have to be there on time and be competitive on prices. That’s the baseline rational work that we excel at. Then, knowing we care enough to serve women riders and drivers or grandparents, operate Citi Bike and Bay Wheels in NYC and SF, respectively, and have world-class partnerships where they get more from their other existing relationships is what inspires riders to keep coming back.”

 

The Check Lyft campaign, which launched in September and runs through October, includes organic influencer posts, paid social influencer spots, paid social animated spots, OLV animated spots, atmospheric TV animations, 100+ OOH/DOOH ads and Spotify, Sirius XM and Acast audio.

SpecialGuest won the Lyft business on a project basis in June 2023. The agency is based in Brooklyn and has offices in Los Angeles, London, Madrid and Buenos Aires. Clients include global brands such as Google, Mastercard, Bumble, Chewy, IBM, Spotify and Tsingtao and challenger brands such as Activate Drinks and GOODfest.