UberEats Edits Its Super Bowl 2024 Commercial After Backlash

The Uber Eats Super Bowl commercial was edited at the last minute in response to backlash from viewers. The original ad featured a joke about someone having an allergic reaction to peanut butter, and many viewers complained that it was insensitive – and perhaps dangerous. The version that aired on Sunday omitted this joke altogether.

Uber Eats built its advertisement around the tagline: "Whatever you forget, remember Uber Eats gets groceries." It made jokes about people forgetting things at the store and using Uber Eats to order their last-minute ingredients, but it also expanded this concept to include Jennifer Aniston forgetting David Schwimmer's name, Victoria Beckham forgetting the name of the Spice Girls, and Usher forgetting he had just performed the Super Bowl halftime show. Fans had seen most of this footage ahead of time, since the company posted its ad online on Feb. 6.

One glaring difference is that the original version showed a man with a swollen face covered in hives eating spoonfuls of peanut butter straight from the jar. In the ad, he says: "There's peanuts in peanut butter? Oh, it's the primary ingredient." At the same time, a message in small print at the bottom of the screen reads: "Please please please do not forget there are peanuts in peanut butter."

The ad got backlash on social media at once – and not just from individuals. An organization called Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) made a post on X saying: "We're incredibly disappointed by Uber Eats' use of life-threatening food allergies as humor in its Super Bowl ad. The suffering of [more than 33 million] Americans with this condition is not a joke. Life-threatening food allergy is a disease, not a diet. Enough is enough."

We're incredibly disappointed by @UberEats' use of life-threatening food allergies as humor in its Super Bowl ad. The suffering of 33M+ Americans with this condition is no joke. Life-threatening food allergy is a disease, not a diet. Enough is enough. https://t.co/aKilgfweVd

— FARE | Food Allergy Research & Education (@FoodAllergy) February 7, 2024

FARE later issued a statement saying it had been in contact with Uber and had talked to the company about the need to remove this peanut butter joke. Uber did not comment on the change publicly, but they did re-upload an edited version of the commercial on Sunday morning. The original version was unlisted, but was left up on the channel. Ultimately, the edited version is what aired on TV. It included a new joke about someone forgetting how to sit on a chair instead.

For many fans, the celebrity cameos were the centerpiece of this ad – particularly the reunion of Friends co-stars Aniston and Schwimmer. These pricy Super Bowl ads are likely to remain in circulation for months, so any change is definitely significant.