When You’ve Done Enough - Evil’d Enough

Background: We were operating in a category that was trapped in an echo chamber. Everyone was talking about the functional benefits of food delivery: we can bring you any food you want, conveniently. We knew Uber Eats had to rise above this, and give people an emotional reason to choose us. The problem? People see takeaways as a lazy indulgence, for weekends or hangovers. Something to reach for when you can’t be bothered to cook or go to the shop. And Uber Eats was suffering because of this association. We needed to get people to think differently about online food delivery and its role in their lives, and in doing so, grow the Uber Eats business and increase love for the brand. Creative Idea: In a world telling people they have to do more, more, more, Uber Eats would be the brand that tells you to stop and do less. The campaign, called ‘When you've done enough, Uber Eats’ gives people license to order what they want effortlessly and enjoy a bit of downtime. We wanted to show moments where people have done ‘enough’ of what’s expected of them, and confidently and comedically choose to enjoy some downtime instead, letting Uber Eats handle the food. Insights & Strategy: The insight came from looking at our audiences: young professionals and young families. While on the surface these were two very different groups of people, we realized that they shared a mindset and an attitude. Both groups were united by the fact that they live in the ‘mad years’ of life. These are years where life moves at a hundred miles per hour, you’re always striving to reach the next milestone (find a partner, buy a house, start a family, get that promotion). And always, the pressure and expectation to do more, more, more. Visit the latest exhibitions, read the new ‘it’ book, smash the big meeting at work, get that DIY project done at home. There was cultural pressure to use every minute productively. But endless ‘to-do’ lists and pressures can get overwhelming. We realized that it shouldn’t be so hard to live well. And instead, couldn’t we be the brand that give people permission to do less, and enjoy their hard-earned downtime? Execution: Our goal was to dramatize moments where people feel like they’ve done enough of what’s constantly expected of them, and deserve a break. We parachute into what appears to be the middle of a classic film scene, starring Javier Bardem in his next iconic evil role. He and his generals sit at a menacing boardroom table in his lair, discussing the next steps for world domination (for what must be the millionth time). But when Bardem decides he's had enough of evil-ing for the day, he knows exactly what he wants: a little downtime, provided by sushi ordered on Uber Eats. Production design and sound design were critical in creating a believable cinematic landscape, which helped make the order moment an unexpected and surprising comedic beat. The power dynamic between Javier and his evil axis was crucial in establishing Javier as an intimidating evil force, which he is expected to be playing, time and time again. And, once his evil character is established, it paves the way for the comedic twist when he walks away from the constant expectations to be evil in favor of ordering Uber Eats. For the misdirect to work, we needed people to think they’re watching a $200 million tentpole movie. All of our choices, everything from production design and sound design, to wardrobe and VFX, were in service of it. The bottom third of the cavernous evil meeting room was practical. Everything above it was matte painting and CGI. The hallway Javier Bardem and his minions walk through as well as his “man cave” were all practical. It was a massive undertaking and required two weeks of set building. We did a fair amount of improvisation with our cast. We shot with multiple cameras so every time we tried something, it was in the can. Results: New campaign - awaiting results