Marking the latest chapter in their nine-year creative partnership, Uber Eats and Special have unveiled a new brand platform, ‘Phew’. The platform moves beyond proving the breadth of Uber Eats’ grocery, retail, and food offerings, capturing instead the unmistakable feeling of relief that comes with getting everyday essentials delivered right when they are needed most.
The shift follows four years of the impactful ‘Get Almost, Almost Anything’ campaign, which successfully broadened perceptions of Uber Eats beyond takeaway and was rolled out in more than 17 international markets. It succeeded the platform that kicked off the partnership nine years ago, ‘Tonight, I’ll Be Eating…’, which also scaled across the globe.
Thanks to four years of consistent investment in ‘Get Almost, Almost Anything’, Australians are now fully accustomed to the app’s extensive range and promise to ‘get anything’ delivered at the tap of a button. ‘Phew’ shifts focus from utility to the emotional value of on-demand convenience. This was based on extensive ethnographic research that surfaced the guilt people still feel around paying for some types of convenience, despite the mounting stresses of modern life. ‘Phew’ seeks to alleviate this tension and continue to normalise on-demand delivery as a solution to daily pressures.
At the heart of the platform is that familiar feeling: the weight lifted off your shoulders when what you need, or simply crave, arrives at your door without adding another task to an already full day.
To launch the platform, the launch campaign travels back to a time “B.U.E.” (Before Uber Eats). The launch film follows protagonists Sam and Ollie in 2013, in their journey to make dinner, forced to track down dinner ingredients the old-fashioned way. Their inconvenient journey through the B.U.E. era is packed with 2013 cultural nostalgia, featuring cameos from LMFAO’s Redfoo and a pre-stardom Troye Sivan.
“Over the last four years, we’ve built incredible familiarity around the promise to ‘get anything’ delivered to your door. With ‘Phew’, we’re tapping into something deeper – the emotional relief of this convenience. Special has once again delivered a platform that reflects how Australians live today, combining sharp cultural insight with high-craft entertainment,” Nicole Bardsley, Director of Marketing, Uber Eats ANZ said.
“’Phew’ represents a critical strategic shift for the brand. As the on-demand food delivery category has matured over the past decade, they no longer need to drive basic awareness of what they do, but instead focus on why it brings value to people’s lives. Uber should be applauded for the brave simplicity of owning a single, highly distinctive word – in fact, sound! – that exactly captures the essence of how we want people to feel when they think of the brand,” Celia Garforth, Special CSO (Uber APAC), added.
“Evolving a brand platform after four incredible years of ‘Get Almost, Almost Anything’ is a rare creative challenge. ‘Phew’ allows us to pivot from functional awareness to emotional connection. Transporting people back to 2013 was a fun way to remind everyone just how friction-heavy life was before on-demand delivery became second nature,” Simon Gibson and Nils Eberhardt, Special ECDs, said.
The hero film is supported by impactful OOH, audio, and social creative capturing universal ‘Phew’ moments, from discovering you’re missing a vital component midway through a DIY project to the instant relief of an end-of-week craving arriving at your door.
The integrated national campaign will roll out across TV, BVOD, online video, YouTube, social, radio, digital audio, OOH, DOOH, CRM, custom high-impact special builds, and consumer activations.
CREDITS
Uber Eats
Senior Director, Head Of International Marketing: Lucinda Barlow
Director APAC Marketing: Ally Doube
Director Of Marketing, ANZ: Nicole Bardsley
Sr. Marketing Manager, ANZ: Rebecca Macciolli, Dan Greenberg, Tom Walter
Global Creative Director, APAC: Adam Ledbury
Media Lead, APAC: Rob Maddison
Legal, ANZ: Michael Coutts
Communications Manager, ANZ: Joshua O’Connor
Social Media Manager, ANZ: Haley El
Head Of International Marketing Strategy: Josh Pickstone
Special
CEOs/Partners: Lindsey Evans, Cade Heyde
CCOs/Partners: Tom Martin, Julian Schreiber
Executive Creative Directors: Simon Gibson, Nils Eberhardt
Creative Directors: Joe Ranallo, Will Winter-Irving
Creative Team: Hannah McCowatt, Laura Grimshaw
Managing Directors: Tori Lopez, Lauren Portelli
Team Leads: Laura Little, Rachel McEwen
Senior Business Director: Charlie Keeble
Business Managers: Tamara Young, Annabel Malouf
Chief Strategy Officer (Uber APAC): Celia Garforth
Senior Strategy Director: Henry Bilson
National Head Of Production: Tash Johnson
Executive Producer: Tania Jeram
Social Producer: Olivia Jeavons
Stills Producer: Di Williams
Head Of Design: Adam Shear
Designer: Hamish Kennelly
Production Assistant: Serina King
Senior Video Editor: Aleks Manou
AI Artist And Creator: Nathaniel Kiwi
National Head Of Social (PR): Maddie Marovino
Creative Strategy Director (PR): Kate Wilkinson
Senior Social Media Manager (PR): Niamh Thompson
Production Company: 3and7
Director: Steve Ayson
Cinematographer: Sam Chiplin
Producer: Allison Lockwood
1st AD: Jeremy Fitzgerald
Production Designer: Nicki Gardiner
Costume Designer: Joanna Mae Park
Casting Director: Natalie Harvie – Citizen Jane
Post Production: ARC
Edited By: Jack Hutchings
Assisted By: Jack Charter
Coloured By: Trish Cahill
Finished By: Jesse Meha, Viv Baker
Finish Assisted By: Tina Giannoulis
Produced By: Sally Quade
EP: Winnie O’Neil
Sound: Studio Tonic
Lead Sound Designer: Cameron Milne
Sound Producer: Luci Doling
Social
Director: Matt Sav
Cinematographer: Trudi Gultom
Camera Assistant: Christine Anderson
Gaffers: Tahira Donohoe-Bales, Deniz Celik (Maxed Out Films)
Lighting Assistant: Pat Lenzner
Sound Operator: Steve de Souza
Production Designer: Abbey Ling Thorley
Art Assist: Calum Wilson Austin
Stylist: Alex Greenhalgh
Offline Editor: Matt Sav, Stewart Arnott
Online Editor & VFX: Augusto Ketlika Jr.
Sound: Jackson Lister – Studio Tonic
Music Supervision: Level Two Music + Mayflower
Talent Agency: Mayflower
External Legal: CIE
Media Agency: EssenceMediacom
Retail Agency: RX
