02 - How the Uber Eats ad campaign tricks our craving mind to eat more (challenge inside)

If you live in Germany and watch TV, streaming services, or don't have an adblocker for YouTube, you've probably seen this 20-second Uber Eats spot at least once since its release in 2022:

The opening shot features a cool-looking green Uber Eats bag filmed from a low angle, accompanied by a simple hip hop beat. We then zip through four scenarios that marketing creatives think are typical of the urban, affluent, and hip 20-to-34-year-olds:

• Crying over a series finale: More realistically, they’d be shaking their heads in disappointment over the Game of Thrones finale before stuffing sushi rolls down their throats.
• Assembling IKEA furniture: Not exactly stressful but notoriously time-consuming (looking at you, eight different drawers of the Idanäs wardrobe).
• Eating free food at a house party: Guilty as charged.
• Having a hangover after a night out: Not me, since I can’t keep anything down the next day.

The ad concludes with three beautiful young women in club outfits entering the community room of an elderly home during a bingo evening. Of course, these models are eating burgers and fries, and the one in the center is provocatively sucking on a strawberry milkshake. The ad ends with the recurring phrase: "Let's eat!" (In German: "Erstmal essen!"). Honestly, I have no idea what this last scene is supposed to convey. If you have any thoughts on the connection between the young women and the elderly home, please comment or send an email.

The campaign's concept

The campaign's concept is simple: viewers should link typical daily situations with ordering food, hoping it becomes a learned behavior. Interestingly, the main spot features group settings, while the accompanying song by an indie artist depicts situations when the protagonist is alone.

Why does it work? Why is it a problem today? Why for me too?

Over the past two weeks, I've been reading "The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love - Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits" (2014) by Judson Brewer. Brewer, a psychologist and neuroscientist, is the director of research and innovation at Brown University's Mindfulness Center.

The book's core idea is straightforward: our brains have developed a reward-based learning mechanism for survival, creating a habit loop of trigger -> action -> reward. When we see appealing food, we eat it. If it tastes good, we get a reward, and our brain remembers this for future reference. The problem arises when the brain applies this reward to other situations like stress, boredom, or sadness. Our brain convinces us that if eating delicious food helped when we were hungry, it might help in other emotional states too. This forms a connection between unrelated situations and food. The more we repeat this habit loop, the deeper it ingrains in our memory, shaping our perspective, according to Brewer.

I relate to this because many of my daily situations are connected with food:

• Dinner at business meetings: Usually a three-course meal.
• Meeting friends in the evening: Pizza and beers.
• Being stressed before a work deadline: Brammibal's donuts.
• Rewarding myself after meeting the deadline: again, Brammibal's donuts, damn it!
• Simply enjoying a sunny Sunday: Espresso and a pistachio croissant.

How to break the habit loop according to Brewer?

For Brewer, it's all about mindfulness and awareness. He describes successes with patients addicted to smoking by remapping the feelings we have after indulging in our actions. Is smoking or eating high-calorie food truly a reward? If we're honest, probably not. I certainly don't feel better after eating donuts. The real reward from being with colleagues or friends comes from social interaction and a sense of community, not from the food served.

Recognizing that the reward we think we get from addictive behavior is a false reward is the main remedy this book prescribes. It sounds simple, and it is, which is also what makes it effective. The book tries to convey this message by framing it more spiritually than needed, contrasting happiness and joy (good) with excitement from sensual pleasures (bad), and suggesting we ask ourselves, "Is this action leading me toward or away from suffering?"

The book's shortcomings

The book feels like an introduction to the paid programs the author has designed to help with anxiety, food addiction, and other cravings. It lacks the step-by-step guide usually found in self-help books. Additionally, the chapters on what we can be addicted to (technology, ourselves, distraction, thinking, love) and how we can combat it (concentration, learning to be mean and nice, flow, resilience) lack depth. However, we should remember the book was published in 2014, and the hype around habits and productivity only surged a few years later with James Clear's "Atomic Habits" (2018).

The 30-Day Clean Eating Challenge: Eat Right Now!

Where the book falls short, the accompanying app "Eat Right Now" picks up. Breaking down the lessons into short 10-minute chunks per day, it promises to reduce craving-related eating and reshape our eating habits today. Let's find out together over the next month if and how it works! For daily updates head over to Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/office.potato_adventures/