How Uber Eats Invited Fans to Investigate a Super Bowl Marketing Conspiracy -

Was football invented to sell food? That was the question at the center of Uber Eats’ activation at Super Bowl LX Experience at Moscone Center in San Francisco. The brand asked football fans to get to the bottom of the conspiracy, inviting them into an enclosed footprint with exterior and interior walls covered in large-print messaging that added fuel to the fire, like “The field goal post was designed after a fork.”

Building on an experiential strategy that leans into enclosed, immersive escapes from busy environments (like its multiroom grocery store in 2024), the call to action this year had us joining fans in a line that wrapped around the green-and-black boxed pop-up. Here, our play-by-play on the engagements that made this fan expo activation an experience.

Queue Creator Content

While in line for the activation, attendees scanned a QR code that led them to download the Uber Eats app and then create their own Super Bowl commercial from several scene options that featured celebrity cameos by Matthew McConaughey, Bradley Cooper and Parker Posey. Those who completed the commercial, of which there were 1,000-plus possible combinations, received a prize at the end of the experience.

Décor to Explore

The line moved quickly, and along the way, participants were already taking in newspaper clippings and evidence connected by oversized push pins and string on the walls. Once inside, a green-washed office continued the “murder board” motif with photos, clippings, notes and illustrations linked together. We zeroed in on the hard-hitting questions: “5 NFL teams named after birds to sell wings?” and “Personal foul. Personal fowl. Coincidence?”

Secret Doors and Messages

After a few minutes of investigating, a brand ambassador moved a bookcase, and we entered a secret room filled with “A Buffet of Evidence”—a display of NFL jerseys that had last names related to food: Ham, Rice, Bacon, Cobb, Bass, Cherry, and French and Fries placed side-by-side. The next area, themed like a locker room, asked us to think about how the San Francisco 49ers have its Sourdough Sam mascot on the sideline and how the Green Bay Packers’ fans are known as Cheeseheads, not to mention the team name’s meat-packer origins. Very interesting…

Some Sports Action, Of Course

Fans then had a chance to put their football skills to the test and run a ball down a branded field with obstacles and fork field goal posts. Tasty lemonade was served at the end in Uber Eats cups as a refreshing reward.

Finally, we moved into the last room where participants had to vote on where they stood with the conspiracy by placing a squishy food item or football in one of several plastic containers emblazoned with a phrase. We cast our vote for “I’m hungry for more evidence.” Upon exiting, a brand ambassador distributed Uber Eats lunch bags and food squishies to attendees. We snagged the french fries.

A Campaign Thread for the Recall

This was one of the few activations in San Francisco that tied back to the brand’s TV spot during the Big Game, and thanks to the in-app commercial builder, we recognized a few scenes from the final version that aired. In fact, the commercial we designed aligned almost perfectly. Was that the conspiracy all along? Agency: David Stark Design and Production.