For outdoorsy French people, ordering in with Uber Eats is not the most socially acceptable option.

For a brand like Uber Eats, convenience has been the key selling proposition.

But in a country like France, where people take pride in taking time to cook, shopping with care, and going out to eat, Uber Eats is slightly at odds with the local culture.

If you are in Paris or any part of France, you’d see how the locals (and tourists) love spending time in the cafes, restaurants, and bistros. Choosing to stay in instead of doing that? That’s sure to generate some internal conflict among the users.

Uber Eats said —

“Although ordering deliveries is now firmly anchored in French habits since the pandemic began, this habit often clashes head-on with French cultural norms — taking the time to cook, doing one’s own shopping with care, going out to eat,“

The pandemic has forced the outdoorsy French people to resort to online shopping and food delivery. But now that people are getting used to COVID, that trend is very likely reversing.

In addition to the pandemic, convenience and an increasingly overloaded daily life allowed Uber Eats to become a useful service. But, if there is guilt associated with the order, the brand is sure to take a hit down the line. If users are socially judged for not cooking or doing their shopping, then usage of the service will eventually decrease.

This humorous campaign, by Buzzman, tries to address that while sharing some brand-specific messages.

Genius or Not: What Uber Eats Does Right

Firstly, the ad is masterfully made. It’s humorous. And it shows plenty of information about the brands’ services.

The campaign includes the diversity of France in organic ways. It’s not forced but just a natural extension of how things are.

Additionally, the brand shows users can order both food and groceries through the app. It’s not only about food now but about convenience in a busy life.

But most importantly, the campaign addresses the guilt associated with using the service. By showing how you can humorously handle awkward social situations and “justify” your ordering in, the brand is (in a way) asking the users to adopt similar banter to address social expectations.

Uber Eats is showing that there’s no need to stop ordering because you feel guilty. Everyone is using the service! You can use fun (and often evasive) banter to get around it.

But Does That Address All The Problems?

To be honest, it doesn’t.

It’s likely Uber is getting fewer orders than it did during the last two years. It is also possible that many users only considered the service to be a temporary alternative during COVID lockdowns.

The guilt is being addressed because that is likely to be one of the key obstacles for Uber. If that guilt starts spreading to more people, the service will only see lower numbers in the future.

Considering the changing market dynamics and the mental block (coming from the guilt), Uber Eats is likely looking at a lower number of orders.

The users need a strong reason to keep using Uber Eats.

Yes, the brand mentioned an increasingly busy life. But they are showing hardly any of that in the commercials. None of the situations are showing that users are ordering food or groceries because they were busy. Convenience is an implied benefit but here it’s not shown in a positive light. There was hardly any mention of the time they could save by using the app.

Is Uber subtly addressing that convenience and time-saving are not important reasons to use their service?

Overall, kudos to Uber Eats for addressing the issue. But there’s more work to be done before they can take hold of the narrative.

Additionally, Uber is trying to spread a wide net to attract all types of users. If it works, that’s great. But we have hardly seen that working for many brands. Eventually, they might need to focus on a core group that’d be its change nucleus.

Otherwise, if a brand is for everyone, it becomes a brand for no one.

To Summarize — Genius or Not?

It’s a geniusly creative ad. It’s humorous and shows that the brand is listening to the users.

But does it address the concerns? Doesn’t seem like it.

Does the campaign focus on the why? Not really.

It shows what you’ll do if you are in a socially awkward situation. But would you order again the next time? How many times would you like to lie or ignore your guilt?

Maybe in the future, Uber Eats will address these points. But till then, it’s not a genius campaign. It’s in the right direction but more should be added to the story to retain consumers.

This article was first published on Medium.

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