Uber Eats’ Australian Open campaign catches the attention of industry watchdog after a complaint is lodged over ‘indistinguishable’ advertising
Uber Eats’ high-profile Australian Open campaign has attracted the attention of industry watch dog Ad Standards after a complaint was lodged regarding how easily distinguishable the ads are from the actual coverage of the tennis grand slam.
The campaign consists of TVCs which bookend ad breaks during the Australian Open coverage on Nine to make it seem like the telecast of the tennis has returned. Well-known tennis players including Serena Williams, Ash Barty, Nick Kyrios and Grigor Dimitrov appear like they are in the midst of a match, but are interrupted by the delivery of their Uber Eats orders.
The complaint lodged to Ad Standards acknowledged the positive attention the campaign had received from the advertising and media industries, however argued that it breached the AANA Code of Ethics which requires that “Advertising or Marketing Communications shall be clearly distinguishable as such to the relevant audience”.
UberEats sponsored the AusOpen and activated within the environment – Person complains – what??
I think they made the right call here. It is probably a competitor trying to upset the apple cart rather than an actual consumer.
What makes it difficult for us advertisers in my opinion is that if everyone wants to try and emulate something like this, where do TV networks draw the line on how many people could access this type of integration?
Fully agree. This or someone who just bought 30 packages of toilet paper made
Arghh thats the point. Seriously how does one complaint get coverage? Must have been Door Dash!
Let’s all complain about UberEats’ genuinely creative idea and keep accepting Ultra Tune’s ‘equally brilliant’ commercial. Ad watchdog, your turn.