This year, the most wonderful surprises at the Australian Open were not always part of the games. They just looked as though they were – until Uber Eats appeared in them. Special Group, The Glue Society and Revolver/Will O’Rourke created a series of ads at the end of commercial breaks that seemed to be a recommencement of gameplay. In fact, several begin with an announcer welcoming viewers back (to the Australian Open).
In one, Kyrgios takes a seat to get an injury attended to by a trainer. He had been wearing a support band during the game. “It’s never good to see the trainer out, let’s hope everything is OK with Kyrgios,” the announcer says before the “trainer” turns around. It was Lee Lin Chin. She announces that “Tonight I’ll be having buffalo wings”.
https://youtu.be/R9CEsxAoKQ0
In another, Kyrgios is seen bouncing a ball while beads of sweat roll down his face, his obvious tension enhancing the viewers’ anticipation…which is completely thwarted when he suddenly turns to the camera and a doorbell sound is heard.
“Tonight I’ll be having garlic bread and a strawberry sundae,” he states before he is handed an Uber Eats bag.
The Stable HAD TO ask the stunts’ director, Jonathan Kneebone, to tell the ads’ story:
“We got the script by Special Group’s creative duo, Nick Cole and Pat Allenby, and executive creative directors, Tom Martin and Julian Schreiber, in mid-December. At that point, we didn’t know how to make the “live moments” idea happen, so there were a lot of discussions that had with Channel 9 about the infrastructure of the Open, getting access to the courts…and even who the players would be.
“It was a really unusual process. The Australian Open provides all the footage, which each country’s networks localise. We worked completely with the actual production team of the Australian Open. Our first job was to analysing lots of tennis coverage so that ours would seem authentic. New Glue Society director, Alice Cogin, did much of this.
“The courts were installed in the first week of January and we shot one week before the Open. To make our ads authentic, we wanted to use the show courts, Rod Laver and Margaret Court, because they have logos and signage behind the players. There was minimal opportunity for preparation. We literally walked onto the court and set up camera positions with the Australian Open crew. Of course, we were shooting with empty stadiums, so camera angles had to be carefully chosen, so the courts looked real but not empty. We used real ball kits and linespeople to fill the footage with reality.
The films featured Rafael Nadal, Caroline Wozniacki, Nick Kyrgios, Daria Gavrilova, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who made it to the semi-finals before he was beaten by Nadal. He was such a good sport, agreeing to do a special commentary for us with two scripts – depending on whether he won or lost. The cameraman and umpire ads used actors.
“The most important part though, the part that makes the ruse work, is the abrupt transition from assumed Australian Open footage to ad.
https://youtu.be/Z3BAw9YXGDs
“It was all edge of the seat stuff.”
“Players are known not to be great actors. We told each player we were going to recreate a moment, got them into its headspace, then each had to turn suddenly acknowledge the camera and deliver the “Tonight I’m going to have..,” line. The first time it happened during filming it was really freaky for us.
“That’s when the team knew that the idea was going to work.”
“There was no time to edit afterwards so we chose vision mixing from different cameras versus editing to mAke the ads work – eliminating things like people being in shot one moment and magically disappearing the next, or suddenly wearing different clothes.
“A real first. A real challenge.”
“Connecting unplanned and planned moments in a way that can’t be seen, was a real coup for us. The challenge was working in a completely new way – making something that looks like TV using actual resources and directing in a way that has never been done before.
“My job was to make all the films credibly real. I give full kudos to the producers, Ian Iveson and Michael Ritchie. We also had to turn everything around very quickly – producing finished films the day after shooting. Media placement had to be meticulous. Each ad had to run in exactly the right place to feel as though it was a continuation of the broadcast and it had to run at the end of an ad break to work.
“But the stars of the show are the Special Group creatives, Tom and Juls, and Nick and Pat.
“And luck. It was either going to work or it wasn’t. We got lucky.”
https://youtu.be/IIH5jAtK6qE
Credits
https://youtu.be/5GLMmgmHdFE
Viewers hoodwinked as Australian Open hijacked by ads posing as game play
It seemed like Nick Kyrgios had broken down with a severe injury and needed urgent treatment. But the whole thing was a ruse.
Australian Open viewers have been left confused after an Uber Eats launched a series of TV advertisements that tricked tennis fans into thinking it was a real match.
One of the ads, which debuted last night, begins with an announcer saying “welcome back to the Australian Open”.
Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios is seen bouncing a ball while beads of sweat roll down his face.
Then, suddenly, Kyrgios looks into the camera and a doorbell sound is heard.
“Tonight I’ll be having garlic bread and a strawberry sundae,” he says, before he is handed a branded Uber Eats bag.
Weird turn of events, but OK.
In another ad, Kyrgios takes a seat to be attended to by a medical professional. Throughout the real game he had in fact been injured and had his knee strapped after the first set.
“It’s never good to see the trainer out, let’s hope everything is OK with Kyrgios,” the announcer says before the “trainer” turns around and reveals herself to be ex-SBS newsreader Lee Lin Chin.
In a masterful display of hoodwinkery by Uber Eats, Channel 9 and Kyrgios happened to be wearing a strikingly similar outfit during the prerecorded ads as he was wearing on the court.
He also managed to spin his injury into the narrative script of the ad as it appeared during the game.
Chin has participated in a number of ads with the delivery company since parting ways with SBS and become somewhat synonymous with the brand, which might explain why she concealed her face for most of the sneaky ad.
The ad was a clear attempt at the temporary bamboozlement of otherwise savvy, ad-weary viewers, confusing their ability to discern between what is an ad and what was actual game play.
Right up until the moment an Uber Eats bag was in their face.
Kyrgios initially took to the court last night without strapping and the pain seemed to first present itself late in the first set. The ads tied in well with the controversial Australian star’s injuries. And his outfit.
Many viewers took to Twitter to vent their frustration over the cheeky ads.
Kyrgios was knocked out last night by Canadian Milos Raonic in straight sets. It is unclear what Uber Eats will deliver to Australian Open viewers next.
They are a major advertising partner for Nine’s tennis coverage.
Other Twitter users loved Uber Eats’ clever use of the airtime and talent, taking to social media to express their love for the creative set of placements. One user tweeted that one ad was “the best Uber Eats ad of all time.”
https://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/viewers-steam-as-australian-open-hijacked-by-ads-posing-as-game-play/news-story/aa31e56318fc6b8301bd82937c697b0a
https://youtu.be/8o_SQKOoR1s
Delivery food service Uber Eats has leveraged Australian Open audiences and recruited tennis stars and commentators to discuss what they will be ordering and eating from the app.
Uber Eats and its creative agency of record Special Group have taken over the last commercial break of the Australian Open, making viewers think they are watching the tennis game after the ad break has concluded.
Cameraman misses Australian Open shot as he orders Uber Eats in tennis themed campaign
January 21, 2019 12:43
Delivery food service Uber Eats has leveraged Australian Open audiences and recruited tennis stars and commentators to discuss what they will be ordering and eating from the app.
Uber Eats and its creative agency of record Special Group have taken over the last commercial break of the Australian Open, making viewers think they are watching the tennis game after the ad break has concluded.
In one of the 30 second television commercials, a cameraman is seen missing the tennis action because he is too busy ordering Greek food on Uber Eats.
Cameraman misses Australian Open shot as he orders Uber Eats in tennis themed campaign
January 21, 2019 12:43
Delivery food service Uber Eats has leveraged Australian Open audiences and recruited tennis stars and commentators to discuss what they will be ordering and eating from the app.
Uber Eats and its creative agency of record Special Group have taken over the last commercial break of the Australian Open, making viewers think they are watching the tennis game after the ad break has concluded.
In one of the 30 second television commercials, a cameraman is seen missing the tennis action because he is too busy ordering Greek food on Uber Eats.
Another ad features Lee Lin Chin giving Nick Kyrgios physio treatment as she orders buffalo wings.
During the ad, commentators continue to commentate the tennis as if it were a live match.
The campaign is a continuation of the brand’s ‘Tonight I’ll Be Eating’ brand platform, which has featured celebrities including Rebel Wilson, Ray Martin and Ruby Rose.
Uber Eats’ first Australian campaign debuted in November 2017with Sophie Monk, Beau Ryan, Ryan Maloney, Naomi Watts and Boy George as they told Australians what they would be ordering from UberEats.
