Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when the party is in full swing but all you can think about is the warm bed waiting for you. But if you slip out without bothering to say your goodbyes — a certified exit strategy that many countries lay claim to — it saves you a lot of time and trouble.
While St. Patrick’s Day is traditionally a religious day of national pride, modern celebrations often treat it as a booze-fueled party that can get out of hand. So Uber and Mother New York are promoting safe celebrations with “Uber IrishXit,” a campaign that rallies people to “Irish exit” from the party via its most popular ride, UberX.
Who better to front Uber’s St. Paddy’s Day celebrations than Ireland’s own sweetheart, Love Island reality star Maura Higgins, fresh off the Traitors U.S. finale. Directed by Cameron Harris of Gravy Films, “Where’s Maura?” sees the reality star cheekily Irish exiting from an Uber campaign set before filming has even started. As the team frantically searches for Higgins, she has other plans: a nice bubble bath at home.
“There was something inherently fun to play into with Maura ‘Irish exiting’ her own shoot as a way to bring the campaign to life. Maura’s Irish heritage, humor, and personality made the concept authentic,” Marisa Siegel, Uber’s head of growth and engagement, mobility marketing, told ADWEEK.
Siegel explained that leaning into an “ad within an ad” allowed the team to playfully break the fourth wall.
“Uber enabled Maura to literally ‘exit’ just as the shoot gets going. It’s a wink to the cultural phenomenon of the Irish exit, while reinforcing how easy it is to make a quick, seamless getaway with Uber,” she said. “The humor felt aligned with Maura’s voice and gave us a creative way to turn a relatable behavior into a memorable campaign moment timed to St. Patrick’s Day.”
On Uber’s decision to promote safe celebrations, Siegel said: “Nights out with friends should be fun and memorable, but they should also end with everyone getting home safely. As a platform built around helping people move through their cities, we see it as an important responsibility to remind people that Uber is a convenient and reliable option.”
Uber plans to roll out the campaign across email, digital out-of-home, and social media with a series of short clips, with field marketing at and around Irish bars in Orlando, Palm Beach, and Kansas City.
