Uber Eats has made last minute changes to its Super Bowl advertisement after criticism that it inappropriately made light of food allergies.
The Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) charity thanked the food delivery firm for agreeing to edit out parts that showed a man having an allergic reaction to peanut butter. Uber did not issue a statement but shared the edited version of the ad.
The Super Bowl is one of the most high profile marketing moments of the year. Tens of millions of Americans tune in for the American football championship, taking place later on Sunday, and the commercials that air during the game are expensive and typically planned months in advance.
Uber started promoting its video online earlier this week. The one minute advert tells the tales of people forgetting key information, under the tagline “Don't forget to remember Uber Eats”.
The story of the man eating peanut butter, having forgotten it contains peanut, was originally featured alongside other moments of memory lapse involving big names, including actress Jennifer Anniston failing to recognise her Friends co-star David Schwimmer and David and Victoria Beckham trying to remember the name of her former band, the Spice Girls.
“Remember when you used to be a Pepper Lady?” Mr Beckham says.
FARE and other allergy groups had expressed concern about the advert, saying food allergies were not a joke and the juxtaposition was “inappropriate”. On Friday Ms Poblete said she had spoken to the company, which had promised to edit out the reference to the peanut allergy. She thanked the company for listening.
“I want to thank you, our community, for speaking up so that our voices could be heard as we change the way life-threatening food allergies are perceived,” she added.
Special Group, the agency that helped Uber develop the ad, did not respond to a request for comment. Uber's swift response to the allergy advocates won praise online, though the embarrassment of the last minute fix seems like perhaps another episode that the company will want to forget.
— CutC by bbc.com
