This Super Bowl Sundaydon’t forget Uber Eats — but also remember that trying to alleviate a life-threatening allergy is bad PR, as the food delivery service learned.
On February 6, Uber Eats, a division of the ride-sharing company, debuted. 60-second 2024 Super Bowl ad, based on the running joke of forgetfulness. David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston (who forgot she worked with him for 10 years on “Friends”) in a spot celebrating Uber Eats’ fourth year at the Super Bowl; David and Victoria Beckham (who don’t remember the Spice Girls) as well as Jelly Roll try to rub off their face tattoos, and Usher slanders him for just playing the halftime show.
Stay tuned for live coverage of Super Bowl 58
The ad, from creative ad agency Special Group, also features ordinary people doing comically silly things. But one scene was decidedly not funny to many: a man eating a spoonful of peanut butter from a jar — broken in hives and a swollen left eye from an allergic reaction — glances at the food label and notes, “Is that peanut butter in there? Oh, that’s the main ingredient.” .”
The ad was criticized by the nonprofit advocacy group Food Allergy Research and Education. statement: “Incredibly disappointed @UberEats used life-threatening food allergies as humor in their Super Bowl ad. It is no joke that more than 33 million Americans suffer from this disease. A life-threatening food allergy is a disease, not a diet. That’s enough.”
FARE CEO Dr. on Friday. Sung Poblete said in a statement that he had spoken with Uber and that the company had agreed to remove the offensive scene. Uber has made changes to an ad that will be broadcast to a wider Super Bowl audience, “editing a reference to a peanut allergy.” Diversity Uber has confirmed that it will air an alternate version of the spot without the peanut butter scene on its CBS broadcast, but currently has no plans to edit or remove the ad that previously aired online.
Uber declined to comment.
The original Uber Eats spot includes a disclaimer of sorts: Small text below the beehive peanut butter boy says, “Please note that peanut butter contains peanuts.”
But that wasn’t enough to placate critics, who took to social media to express disbelief and outrage. “You had a great commercial right down to the guy with the peanut allergy,” one commenter wrote on X. “What if you take her away from a guy who forgets he’s diabetic and doesn’t take his insulin, or a soldier who has PTSD and forgets? his medicine?? No, those aren’t going to be funny either, are they? Edit the ad.”