If you watched the previews of some ads set to air at the Super Bowl on Sunday, you might have seen one from Uber Eats that featured some familiar faces. Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer, who played Rachel and Ross on the hit sitcom Friends, reunited for a humorous commercial that also starred David and Victoria Beckham.
The ad titled “Don’t Forget Uber Eats” was meant to promote the company’s delivery service. It showed various scenarios of people forgetting things, such as their trousers, favorite food ingredients, or even co-stars that they worked with for 10 years.
However, one scene from the Uber Eats Super Bowl ad was met with a lot of public outrage for making fun of a man having an allergic reaction to peanut butter. It showed a man with a swollen face and hives, asking, “There’s peanuts in peanut butter?”
The joke was intended to poke fun at the man’s forgetfulness, but many viewers did not find it funny. Instead, they felt that the ad was insensitive and offensive to people who suffer from food allergies, especially peanut allergies, which can be life-threatening.
The Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) charity, which advocates for more than 33 million Americans with food allergies, issued a statement saying that it was “surprised and disappointed” to see Uber Eats use allergies as a joke. FARE said that the ad “trivializes the seriousness of food allergies and the challenges faced by those who live with them every day.”
Uber Eats responded to the criticisms by agreeing to air the ad without reference to the peanut allergy, according to FARE’s CEO Sung Poblete. She thanked the company for listening to the feedback and taking action to respect the food allergy community. She also thanked the community for speaking up and changing the way food allergies are perceived.
