How do you launch a new offering from a well-known brand with an established name, but said name is cited as being the primary barrier to trying the new offering?

And how do you do it in a way that doesn’t just cut through the noise of the Super Bowl, but sets out to “win” the Super Bowl?

We chose to build off the cultural equity that Uber Eats was already known for - lighthearted, funny, entertaining skits that feed off the moment - and used that energy to breakthrough.

The mood of the moment was perfect - confusion reigned large at the start of 2022: we were all living in a world of CDC recommendation memes and conflicting advice on every issue. So, why not play into the confusion to not only draw attention to our new news but lighten the mood of the nation in the process?

What better way to launch this idea than an announcement campaign around our new core offering: “Uber Don’t Eats.” The very name itself piques your curiosity, as anyone who has had even a lightly rebellious childhood will tell you.

The campaign then went on to ask a critical question that no ordinary American would ask themselves, but every ordinary American would find completely impossible not to ponder: if it was delivered with Uber Eats, does that mean I can EATS it?

And who better to bring this to life than a range of celebrities who ponder these very confusing questions on the regular? Jennifer Coolidge, Nicholas Brawn (AKA Cousin Greg), Trevor Noah, and the unstoppable Gwyneth Paltrow. After all, if we are talking about Eats and Don’t Eats, the creator of a Vagina Candle surely knows a thing or two. As Twitter went on to prove.

Prior to its national launch, we already faced challenges conveying this new offering to select markets with earlier campaigns. Creative adapted to include the new offering was tested in focus groups of our priority target: users who use switch between multiple delivery apps.

What we heard was loud and clear: “It’s confusing to see non-food delivered in a bag from Uber Eats.”

Come Super Bowl: we had to not only make America aware, but also make them talk about Uber Eats’ expanded offering during the most crowded moment of the year. And we knew the offering wasn’t innovative enough on its own to accomplish that.

Uber Eats ads are the most beloved and effective when creating a connection between the audience and the celebrities they love. Ultimately, the way to make this campaign most talk-worthy was to put the consumers’ own words into our celebrities’ mouths.

This campaign focused on a Super Bowl launch. It kicked off with a teasing phase that included blind OOH, TV, and digital films featuring our celebrities eating a variety of weird things. Alongside the Super Bowl commercial, each talent pushed unique content out on their own channels that complimented their voice and style.

The day after the big game was Valentine's Day. So, we created a day's worth of content around the internet’s sweetheart, Cousin Greg. The campaign continued by treating each of our celebrities like the influencers they are by having them humorously speak to their audiences about what you can and cannot eat. Of course, we supported them with follow-up TV, digital and OOH executions.

The campaign hit with a slew of headlines (one in Paper Magazine even claimed that we broke the internet) questioning our sanity in inviting Gwyneth to eat her own “This Smells Like My Vagina” candle. From there on, the conversation and attention kept on rolling.

By the end of its run, the campaign garnered over 12.8 billion in reach, was covered by everyone from Jimmy Kimmel to Good Morning America, and was voluntarily reposted by Ariana Grande to her 305 million followers. It even had the US Government tweeting to remind people that dish soap isn’t food, and most importantly, made Uber Eats’ new offerings absolutely clear to everyone. But this wasn’t just Super Bowl fluff — even the prestigious Kellogg’s School of Business thought our dumb joke was pretty smart by awarding us the most effective Super Bowl ad - and in so doing “Winning the Super Bowl.”