Some conspiracies never die, and Uber Eats wants to keep its own alive for at least another NFL season.
There’s just one problem: actor and diehard football fan Bradley Cooper is determined to debunk the brand’s wild theory that the sport was invented to sell food. Cooper is on a mission to set the record straight, because he thinks the conspiracy overshadowed his beloved Philadelphia Eagles’ victory at Super Bowl 59.
The actor’s beef with Uber Eats, the official delivery partner of the NFL, comes to life in a new campaign for the start of football season. Created by Special US, the ad will debut on Sept. 14 during the NFL’s Sunday Night Football.
The saga began in 2024, when Uber Eats and actor Matthew McConaughey first planted the theory that the entire game of football and the NFL were an elaborate scheme to sell more food to hungry fans.
The outlandish idea captured people’s attention—so much so, that Uber Eats brought it to a bigger stage at this year’s Super Bowl. In its fifth consecutive Big Game ad, the brand and McConaughey delved into football’s history, uncovering the covert link between the game and the culinary world. Celebrities including Kevin Bacon, Martha Stewart, and Charli XCX made cameos.
ADWEEK named it one of 2025’s Best Super Bowl Ads.
But the case isn’t closed, and Uber Eats enlisted Cooper, a passionate Eagles fan, to defend football’s legacy.
“Last season was all about seeding the conspiracy. This year we wanted to allow football the opportunity to defend itself,” Georgie Jeffreys, Uber Eats’ head of marketing for North America, told ADWEEK. “Bradley Cooper is the perfect man to defend the sport’s honor and challenge the theory, all while bringing the same humor and energy that fans love.”
In the ad, Cooper goes on a rant debunking Uber’s conspiracy theory, before urging league officials to publicly deny it. The A-list lineup includes NFL stars Baker Mayfield, Troy Aikman, and Jerry Rice.