Uber Eats Super Bowl commercial branded "irresponsible" for "offensive" allergy joke

The corporate fever dream that is the NFL Super Bowl takes place on Sunday, but in the run-up to the iconic sporting event, the food delivery company Uber Eats has come under fire for its new commercial which advocacy groups say ‘misrepresents’ life with a food allergy.

The ad, titled “Don’t Forget Uber Eats”, opens with Friends star Jennifer Aniston receiving an order from the company, before sharing the phrase that “in order to remember something, you’ve got to forget something else”.

“Make a little room,” she adds.

And so begins around 50 seconds of jokes about people forgetting things in favour of remembering what Uber Eats delivers, from David and Victoria Beckham questioning if the latter was in a girl group called the “Paprika Girls”, to Aniston failing to recognise Friends co-star David Schwimmer, and Usher hoping he gets “to play a halftime show someday” (which is what he’s doing this year).

But in addition to the big-name spots, one scene sees a man with puffy lips and his left eye swollen shut hold up a jar of peanut butter and say: “There’s peanuts in peanut butter?

“Oh, it’s the primary ingredient,” he realises.

DON'T FORGET UBER EATSwww.youtube.com

Small print text at the bottom of the screen during this scene reads: "Please please please do not forget there are peanuts in peanut butter."

Except food allergy organisations don’t see it as a laughing matter, not least because allergic reactions in the form of anaphylaxis are life-threatening.

Burton Paul, the CEO of Allergy UK, said in a statement: “It is incredibly disappointing and irresponsible for an organisation with the scale and reach of Uber Eats, to use a multi-million dollar global advertising spot, to diminish and misrepresent the food-allergic community.

“The ad is offensive to millions of people living with food allergies and demonstrates a disregard for a health condition that has tragically claimed too many lives already.

“Upsetting and inaccurate depictions of food allergies in high-profile popular culture moments such as the Super Bowl, contribute to prevailing attitudes that food allergies do not need to be taken seriously.

“We urge Uber Eats to pull this advertisement out of respect to those living with food allergies. It also highlights a need for parts of the food service industry to be more allergy aware and continually review their conduct, processes and practices to ensure they are doing all they can to help keep those living with food allergies safe.”

The press release also goes on to add it is “harmful and insensitive” to suggest those with food allergies “would simply ‘forget’” they have a life-threatening condition.

Others also voiced their concerns on Twitter/X:

Several replies underneath the advert on the social media network, which criticise the food allergy line, have also been ‘hidden’ by Uber Eats’ Twitter account.

However, according to an update shared by the CEO of US organisation Food Allergy Research and Education (or Fare for short) – Sung Poblete – on Friday, Uber Eats will now be editing their advert ahead of Sunday’s event to remove the peanut allergy scene.

Branding it a “win for our food allergy community”, Poblete said: “I spoke with Uber today and they are editing out the reference to the peanut allergy in their Super Bowl commercial. Thank you Uber for hearing our perspective, and becoming a Fare ally.

“Together, let’s foster an environment where every individual is respected, and health conditions are never treated lightly.”

Indy100 has approached Uber Eats for comment.

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