Uber Eats Super Bowl ad angers food allergy advocates

New: Uber Eats expected to cut peanut allergy reference from Super Bowl ad Food allergy advocates are unhappy with Uber Eats’ Super Bowl ad depicting a man having an allergic reaction to peanut butter. In the ad, a man forgets that there are peanuts in peanut butter, his face red and swollen. It is a play on the idea that in order to remember Uber Eats delivers an array of items, consumers have to forget something else. Uber and Special Group, the agency behind the spot, did not respond to a request for comment. “We were surprised and disappointed to see that Uber Eats would use the disease of life-threatening food allergy as humor in its new Super Bowl commercial,” Sung Poblete, CEO of the industry group Food Allergy Research and Education, said in a statement on the group’s website. “Life-threatening food allergy is a disease, not a diet. Enough is enough.” It may be worth editing the ad to replace or remove the scene, according to Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. “Part of releasing your Super Bowl ad in advance means you can see problems you did not anticipate, and this sounds like one of those cases,” Calkins said. “If there is already a vocal group who disapproves, the reach and scale of the Super Bowl may not help that.” It is not unprecedented for advertisers to edit already-released commercials ahead of their Big Game appearance; multiple advertisers were forced to do so in 2020 following the death of Kobe Bryant just days before the Super Bowl. This year, following the death of Carl Weathers, FanDuel decided to edit both versions of its unreleased Super Bowl ad featuring the late actor. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Enter here Around 6% of U.S. adults and children have a food allergy, according to the CDC. The spot is getting an extra level of scrutiny because Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ two children both have food allergies. “This is where it is hard to predict if or how people will connect the dots between the scene and the Mahomes’ health challenges,” Calkins added. Consumers were quick to share their reactions on social media as well. On X, formerly known as Twitter, one person wrote, “I assume no one on your ‘edgy’ marketing team has, as many of us do, a child suffering from life-threatening food allergies. Appalling.” I assume no one on your "edgy" marketing team has, as many of us do, a child suffering from life threatening food allergies. Appalling.— bms1052 (@bms10521) February 7, 2024 Please edit out the peanut allergy joke in your Super Bowl commercial. Peanut allergies need to be taken seriously. This commercial is making it worse, and it is dangerous to make a joke out of a life threatening allergy. @AUVIQ @BrittanyLynne @PatrickMahomes— Anne Carlin (@ajc452) February 7, 2024 Dr. Zachary Rubin, an allergist, made a TikTok about the spot, saying that the imagery should be removed and that joking about allergies makes it easier for the general population to not take food allergies seriously. “This does not help us move forward and have an empathetic conversation around food allergies,” he said in the video. @rubin_allergy Food allergies are no joke. Imagery such as this Super Bowl commercial only trivializes food allergies and makes it easier for people to not take it seriously. Pop culture and mainstream media needs to move past these jokes so that people have a better understanding of food allergies #food #allergies #tiktokdoc #learnontiktok ♬ original sound - Dr. Rubin, MD Viewers had mixed reactions. One mom wrote, “I get treated like a crazy, over-paranoid mom for being careful of my toddler’s food allergies.” “I have allergies and I loved the commercial,” one person wrote in the comment section. “I don’t think that’s what was happening, I think it was just supposed to be silly,” wrote another.

Uber Eats Super Bowl ad angers food allergy advocates

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