Sacha Baron Cohen and Nick Kyrgios star in Uber Eats’ Australian Open ad
Nick Kyrgios has clashed with a very familiar, but questionably Australian, umpire in this year’s Uber Eats Australian Open campaign.
In a brand new character, Sacha Baron Cohen stars as a rogue umpire, interrupting the game as he peruses the Uber Eats app and attempts to maintain love on the scoreboard.
Much like previous years, new ads in the campaign will roll out throughout the course of the Open as new players come on board and the ads are produced on the fly. Ash Barty will also fall victim to Cohen’s rulings on the court.
A new element to the campaign sees promo codes integrated into the live broadcast of the matches. As the rogue umpire tries to keep love on the scoreboard, Uber Eats will be posting a promo code on its Instagram that will unlock free menu items at selected restaurant partners. When love disappears from the score board, the code will also disappear.
“We’re delighted to continue our collaboration with Tennis Australia, using the Australian Open as a platform to showcase our latest campaign,” said head of marketing for Uber Eats ANZ, David Griffiths.
“Navigating such an unpredictable time to deliver an integrated campaign that is bold, direct and has plenty of heart is a huge credit to our team, Special Group and all our partners. We’re extremely proud and excited to see this one run.”
It is the third consecutive year Uber Eats has partnered with Tennis Australia and the Open’s broadcaster Nine. The multi-award winning Australian Open Takeover campaign kicked off the partnership in 2019. The ads appeared as though the broadcast had returned from commercial break, but as play seemed to resume it was quickly interrupted by players and staff receiving deliveries.
Last year’s continuation of the partnership saw Magda Szubanski’s character Sharon Strzelecki live her dream of being a ball girl at the Australian Open and interact with tennis stars such as Serena Williams.
Cohen’s appearance continues the star-studded trend in Uber Eats’ campaigns – which has also previously featured Kim Kardashian. Special Group Australia partner and CCO, Julian Schreiber, said the rogue umpire keeps the partnership fresh.
“This is our third Australian Open campaign for Uber Eats, so we wanted to do something new, while still packing a punch for the brand. We realised Uber Eats could again own specific moments in the tennis – this time when the score is love,” he said.
“Collaborating with Uber Eats and Sacha Baron Cohen to create a rogue umpire obsessed with keeping the score at love seemed a bold and completely fresh way to promote the moment.”
Uber Eat’s marketing manager, Rebecca Kemp, said: “Hilarious, compelling and riveting brand campaigns help delight existing customers, reminding them about the enormous choice available on the Uber Eats app but just as importantly it continues to drive new customers, and new ordering occasions to the platform. We couldn’t be happier with the surprise and staying power of our latest creative collaborator.”
Restaurant partners that will be featured in this year’s campaign are McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s, Dominos, Subway and Ben & Jerry’s. The campaign will appear on Nine, its multichannel Gem, and on social, out-of-home, digital and Tennis Australia’s and Uber Eats’ owned channels.
