Uber Eats sponsors New Zealand’s national rugby team, The All Blacks. But they didn’t sponsor the Rugby World Cup. And due to World Cup rules, Uber Eats were forbidden from saying anything about … anything. And although this seemingly makes communication with supporters impossible, Uber Eats still wanted to be connected with the rugby-mad nation that would be glued to their screens for every minute of the tournament.

These fans would most likely be watching these games from home, with food. We just had to make sure the food they would be getting was from Uber Eats.

So, we had to figure out a way to speak to the Rugby World Cup audience who were watching from home, without getting in trouble with the governing bodies who overlook these sponsorship laws.

We had to figure out a way to speak to this audience without speaking at all.

They say that if you don’t like the rules, change the game. So, we did just that, by inventing a new game for all rugby lovers to play. A new rugby code if you will, called, Cliché Codes.

To get around the World Cup sponsorship gag order, we didn’t say a word. We let the players do the speaking for us. You see, sportspeople often talk in clichés, so, we turned their cliché phrases into Uber Eats discount codes. In post-match interviews that take place in front of a sponsorship step-and-repeat banner backdrop, we made sure everyone’s attention was on the player. Because whenever a common cliché was mentioned, we would convert it into a time-sensitive discount code in real time. Cliché-redacted clues were then dropped on social and in digital OOH.

Those who were quickly able to decode the clues could claim their discount on their next order.

With the 2023 Rugby World Cup being played in France, we knew that the rugby-mad nation of New Zealand would be glued to the TV screens throughout the entire tournament to watch every moment. So engrossed by the games, they wouldn’t have time to begin making meals, though they would definitely be needing to eat and snack as they enjoyed all things rugby. We wanted to make sure that they were getting their sustenance from Uber Eats.

Knowing we couldn’t talk about the World Cup or advertise around it, we needed to find a way to still engage with these viewers. We needed someone to talk for us. Someone who could send a coded message to all fans – a discount coded message. Through social channels we could talk to fans without talking to fans, and assist in guaranteeing they ordered their game day meals from Uber Eats.

To get around the rules of not being able to talk around the World Cup, we got others to do the talking for us. Those who the fans wanted to hear from the most – the players. The only thing is, players are going to say what they say, and we can’t control that. But we did have a fair idea of what they would say, because they tend to talk in clichés. That’s why we introduced, Cliché Codes. Whenever a cliché was mentioned in a post-match interview, we'd convert it into a discount code in real time. Cliché-redacted clues were then dropped on social media and in digital OOH. Those who were able to decode the clues could claim their discount on their next order. Though fans had to act fast, because the codes were time-sensitive and were always updating once new clichés were said. Which unsurprisingly, was often.

Thanks to Cliché Codes running throughout the tournament, Uber Eats was soon on everyone’s lips, in more ways than one. And we never even had to say a word. The campaign led to a dramatic uplift in orders and brand love for Uber Eats during a hyper-competitive global sporting event, without breaching any event sponsorship laws.

In a nation of 5 million people, the campaign had a total reach of 2.3 million New Zealanders and triggered a 187% increase in followers on Instagram. Throughout the tournament, 84,510 Cliché Codes were used, with discounts totalling over $1.7 million. And we had 3.5 million total impressions – which isn’t bad for a brand that wasn’t allowed to say a word, and technically didn’t.