What’s most surprising about this campaign, perhaps, is that someone at Special knew there is a National Cat Day in Australian and Japan (February 22). Less surprising is knowing that it’s National Holiday in Japan on February 24. Putting the two together into a campaign for Uber Eats is a step outside expected also.
Uber Eats has partnered with Special (Australia and Japan), Whatever Tokyo, and EssenceMediacom to create a campaign that encourages pet owners to spend quality time with their furry companions over the long weekend by bringing people and their pets closer together.
Uber Eats knows that pets love spending time with their owners inside and hate it when they go outside leaving them alone. So the brand is offering a simple solution for all the pets out there hoping to spend more time with their owners – get them to order delicious food with Uber Eats.
To help pets tell their owners they should stay in, and order Uber Eats, a limited run of Uber Eats Pet Buttons has been created. When pressed, these buttons play the familiar phrase from the brand’s famous brand campaigns featuring Naka Riisa and Nakao Akiyoshi, Uber Eatsで、いーんじゃない? (Why Not Uber Eats?).
The commercial has an absurdly adorable cat. Creatives knowing about the magnetism of cat videos is a no-brainer.
“At Uber Eats, we know pets are a huge part of the family,” said Yasunari Aoyama – brand marketing manager, Japan at Uber Eats. “Pets and Uber Eats have one thing in common – they want their humans to stay inside. We wanted to give pets the opportunity to suggest ‘Why not Uber Eats’ to their owners so they can keep their humans home and enjoy their favourite meals together this weekend.”
The initiative will be promoted via social media, digital and influencer partnerships, encouraging pet owners nationwide to embrace the joy of staying in with their four-legged friends.
Credits
Client: Uber Eats
Senior Director of Marketing, APAC: Andy Morley
Head of Marketing, Japan [mat leave cover]: Brian Carcich
Head of Marketing, Japan: Ally Doube
Brand Lead, Japan: Ai Suzuki
Brand Marketing Managers: Aiko Imai & Yasunari Aoyama
Global Creative Director, APAC: Adam Ledbury
Media Lead, Japan: Chisano Hijikata
Social Media Lead, Japan: Tom Ellard
Strategy Lead, Japan: Tom Walter
Strategy Lead, APAC: Josh Pickstone
Creative Agency: Special
Partners & CCOs: Julian Schreiber & Tom Martin
Contributing ECD: Go Sohara
Managing Director: Lauren Portelli
Team Lead: Hanna Scott
Business Directors: Kousuke Tamaki, Kaede Ose
Head of Strategy: Celia Garforth
Strategy Director: JJ Bender
Senior Strategist: Kai Shimura
Executive Production Director: Yeong Lim
Contributing Creatives: Kousaku Adachi, Yoshinori Sasahara, Sarah Parris
Contributing Producer: Tomohiko Nakano
Creative & Production Partner: Whatever Co.
Creative Director: Masashi Kawamura
Executive Producer: Saori Nakakariya
Producer: Mai Fukuda
Planner: Rintaro Shimohama Designer: Yuichi Takatani
Engineer: Kazuto Omori
Assistant Engineer: Moeko Omori
Media Agency: EssenceMediacom
