Uber Eats receives backlash for ‘insensitive’ joke in its Super Bowl ad

Uber Eats has managed to infuriate some users on social media for a joke it made in its latest Super Bowl ad that did not sit too well with some viewers.

On Feb. 6, the delivery service company unveiled its ad for this year’s Super Bowl titled “Don't forget Uber Eats” which features celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Usher, David Schwimmer, David and Victoria Beckham and Jelly Roll. The commercial is centered around the idea of forgetting something in order to remember something else, and that something else is Uber Eats, which claims in its ad that it can get “anything” for users of its delivery service.

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The scene in the ad that sparked uproar online depicts a man whose face appears to be swollen after he appeared to have consumed a spoonful of peanut butter. He is seen reading the back of a peanut butter jar while holding a spoon with peanut butter residue on it. “There’s peanuts in peanut butter?” he asked out loud after reading the label.

In the scene, you can also find in small letters at the bottom of the screen a disclaimer from Uber Eats that says: “Please please please do not forget there are peanuts in peanut butter.”

A plethora of viewers were not having it as some took to social media platform X to claim that the scene was "insensitive" and not funny at all. The Food Allergy Research & Education even released a statement admonishing Uber Eats for using “life-threatening food allergies as humor.”

Food allergies aren't funny, and they're definitely not forgettable. When you joke about allergies you teach the public it's ok to not take them seriously, and that can have deadly consequences.— Leanna Smithberger (@DrSmithberger) February 7, 2024

I worked at Uber back in the heyday and am a huge fan. I also have a daughter with a peanut allergy. This commercial was good until they decided that a potentially-fatal condition for nearly 1 in 10 kids made for a good punchline. @pierre_dimitri lets get this fixed before Sunday— Peter Brock (@ptbrock) February 7, 2024

Not so funny if you have a child with a peanut allergy. Terribly insensitive to make a joke out of a life threatening allergy.— Anne Carlin (@ajc452) February 7, 2024

The agency behind the ad was Special USA who has done plenty of ads for Uber Eats and other companies such as Fox Sports and Virgin Voyages.

Food allergies are very common in the United States, and these conditions are on the rise. Roughly 33 million people in the country have a food allergy, and 6.1 million are allergic to peanuts, according to Food Allergy Research & Education. The group also claims that about 3.4 million patients visit the emergency room for a food allergy each year due to allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is life threatening, and it can cause symptoms such as nausea, rashes, vomiting, difficulty breathing and even shock.

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