Food is a key part of any game day party, but Matthew McConaughey has a theory about just how deep that connection goes in an ad kicking off Uber Eats’ NFL campaign.
The commercial, created by agency Special U.S. and debuting during Thursday Night Football tonight, shows McConaughey with a football in hand sharing a couch with San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, who asks “why am I still hungry?” as he nibbles some fries.
McConaughey, who is known for untangling thorny mysteries in his starring role in HBO series True Detective, explains that football is an elaborate scheme to make people buy more food.
As evidence, he lists off some of the sports terms that also correlate with dishes, such as turnovers, pancake blocks, and scrambles, along with the presence of food in names of players and coaches like C. J. Ham and Jerod Mayo. McCaffrey remains dubious, though some final evidence is provided by former 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice, who sits down with a container of fried rice.
Uber Eats, the NFL’s official delivery partner, will continue its “Football is for Food” campaign throughout the season with more spots and a game day hub offering thousands of deals.
“Everyone knows football was invented for food,” Uber, North America head of marketing Georgie Jeffreys told ADWEEK. “Our new creative is a playful take on this silly theory and brings to life how we are connecting fans with their gameday go-tos all within our app. A huge football fan, Matthew McConaughey was the perfect person to spin this web of connections.”
Uber Eats’ focus on football runs deep, with the brand running Super Bowl commercials for the last four years. The ads typically combine quirky humor with big celebrities, with its Super Bowl 58 spot showing Jennifer Anniston, David Schwimmer, David and Victoria Beckham, and Usher all forgetting parts of their identities.
CREDITS
Uber Eats
Vice president, global marketing: David Mogensen
Global executive creative director: Danielle Hawley
Head of marketing, North America: Georgie Jeffreys
Head of Integrated marketing campaigns, North America: Liza Keller
Global creative lead: Ecole Weinstein
Senior Integrated marketing manager: Meg Fortier
Senior marketing manager: Stephanie Laurin
Social & digital marketing lead: Kaitlyn Mendoza
Senior communications manager: Lexi Levin Mitchel
Associate creative director: Tom Kropp
Associate creative director: Jordan Rich
Head of global brand partnership marketing: Molly Spychalski
Senior brand partnership manager: Kim Guluk
Senior partnership manager: Michael McAndrew
Head of organic social: Suzanne Lindbergh
Special US
Partner/chief creative officer: Matthew Woodhams-Roberts
Partner/chief creative officer: Dave Horton
Partner/CEO: Kelsey Hodgkin
Partner/chief production officer: Vic Palumbo
Creative director: Alice Blastorah
Creative director: Josh Hacohen
Associate creative director: Dan Greener
Associate creative director: Shelby Lemons
Creative: Dave Canning
Social creative lead: Dan Hales
Social creative lead: Stew Tribe
Executive producer: Ali Issari
Senior producer: Luke Franek
Group strategy director: Janet Shih
Senior strategist: Jen Rose
Social & comms strategy: Dustin Johnson
General manager: Lily Waters
Group account director: Lindsay Friedgood
Account director: Abby Inman
Creative operations manager: Bryn Wensley
Talent: Matt Delzell
Special Australia
Partner/chief creative officer: Julian Schreiber
Partner/chief creative officer: Tom Martin
Film Production: O Positive
Director: Jim Jenkins, Thaddeus McCants
Executive producer: Ralph Laucella, Marc Grill
Head of production: Devon Clark
Line producers: Sameet Patadia, Carla Tate
Director of photography: Gyula Pados
Food Film Production: Trevor TV
Director: Trevor Shepard
Executive producer: Ursula Camack
Production coordinator: Kiara Cogar
Post Production: Exile
Editors: Matt Murphy, Shane Reid, Grant Surmi, Rex Lowry, Zaldy Lopez
Assistant editors: Melanie Newton
Managing director: CL Kumpata
Executive producer: Jennifer Locke
Producer: Chris Meadows
Pariah
VFX supervisors: Pat Murphy, Matt Sousa, Mike Wynd
CG supervisor: Mike Wynd
Flame artists: Pat Murphy, Matt Sousa, Sam Kolber, Danielle Fowler, Drew Downes, Ruben Llusia, Jameson DeSantis, Baran Bayburt, Michael Vaglienty
CG artists: Pete Jensen, Mitchell Jaeger, Elizabeth Hammer
Matte painter: Reid Southen
Producers: Gladys Bernadac, Andrew Rosenberger
Production coordinator: Lily Hernandez
Executive producer: Michael Steinmann
Executive producer, social: Michael Steinmann
Managing director: Mark Tobin
Color: Royal Muster
Senior colorist: Gregory Reese
Senior colorist: Roslyn Di Sisto
Head of production: Diane Valera
Executive producer: Thatcher Peterson
Sound: Eleven
Sound designer/mixer: Jordan Meltzer
Senior producer: Andrew Smith
Music: New Math
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