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Uber Eats has announced it will reschedule its Super Bowl commercial to air on Sunday after backlash over a joke involving food allergies, according to advocacy groups.
This star-studded TV ad features jokes about people forgetting. A preview of the ad also includes a short scene of a man forgetting the ingredients in peanut butter and his face swollen and breaking out in hives from an apparent allergic reaction.
Advocates accused the ad of misrepresenting the risks to people with food allergies. On social media, some spoke of the dangers they and their loved ones faced.
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The nonprofit Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) on Friday agreed to allow Uber to air ads without mentioning peanut allergies, Son Poblete, the nonprofit’s CEO, said in a statement. She said the change was made following backlash on social media from several people who spoke about their own food allergy risks.
“I want to thank our community for using their voices to make sure our voices are heard as we change the perception of life-threatening food allergies,” Poblete said. “It’s personal to all of us.”
Uber did not respond to email inquiries from USA TODAY on Saturday.
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Although data is limited, FARE estimates that more than 30 million Americans have food allergies, including approximately 6 million children, some of whom have experienced bullying due to them. I’m guessing that some people have experienced this. A 2019 study estimated that 1 in 10 Americans have a food allergy, but far more people believe they have a food allergy.
Dr. Purvi Parikh, an allergist and immunologist with the national nonprofit Allergy and Asthma Network, said the commercial downplays a legitimate health issue, especially as food allergies are on the rise among Americans. It is said that they are doing so. Factors such as pollution and climate change, as well as further advances in the understanding of allergies, are thought to be contributing to the increase. Peanut is one of the most common food allergies.
“This is a serious and life-threatening condition,” Parikh, who is also a clinical assistant professor at New York University Langone, told USA TODAY. “If you really have these allergies, any form of exposure to these allergens is extremely dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.”
She cited the recent death of Orla Baxendale, 25, a professional dancer from New York City. Baxendale died on January 11 of an allergic reaction after eating an unlabeled cookie that contained peanuts.
The Uber Eats commercial also features Jennifer Aniston not remembering that she co-starred with David Schwimmer on the 10th season of Friends. David and Victoria Beckham forget about Beckham’s pop group, the Spice Girls, while Beckham wears a shirt that says ‘David’s Wife’. Musician Jelly Roll forgets he has a tattoo on his face. Meanwhile, Usher, this year’s Super Bowl halftime performer, said he hopes to perform at the Super Bowl someday.
Uber said the commercial will air during the third quarter of the San Francisco 49ers-Kansas City Chiefs game.
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