THE AD: Uber Eats concocted its football-for-food conspiracy theory last NFL season, bringing its argument to the Super Bowl with a 60-second spot starring Matthew McConaughey guiding viewers through the game’s history, pointing out all the food-related Easter eggs that support his idea that football was invented to sell food.
He’s back. But instead of making his argument to Greta Gerwig, McConaughey makes his case to Bradley Cooper, who’s convinced that the game is too pure for such a commercial intent. Parker Posey makes a cameo in support of McConaughey.
MY TAKE: Returning for a second time with the same idea is a risk, and McConaughey verges on annoying as he heckles Cooper on runs, in a stadium seat, in the kitchen, at a game watching party, and beside the pool.
But the coincidences that McConaughey exploits to make his case really make the ad for me. It’s true that the shape of goal posts was inspired by a fork, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame really does look like a juicer. It’s absurd, silly, and fun.
The fact that it’s all an ad that’s trying to sell you food brings a kind of self-awareness that is refreshing in a sea of high-dollar advertising spots, too.
Watch Uber Eats’ Super Bowl 60 ad, “Hungry for the Truth,” below.
