Diddy ‘Don’t Do Jingles’ As He Teams With Surprise Guests for Uber’s Super Bowl Ad

Uber’s musical Super Bowl ad unites Sean “Diddy” Combs with a cast of hitmakers to produce a song that will get stuck in people’s heads. 

The brand has unveiled its full-length spot ahead of the Big Game on Feb. 12, after previously releasing a teaser starring Diddy. This is its third consecutive Super Bowl ad but the first one promoting membership program Uber One. 

The 60-second ad picks up after the teaser, which showed Uber executives negotiating with Diddy to create a memorable tune for Uber One. Though the hip-hop mogul’s team insisted that “Diddy don’t do jingles,” they agreed that he would produce a hit song. 

Now Diddy is in the studio, where he cycles through various musicians who are responsible for some of the catchiest songs ever made. The cast spans generations, genres and features: Montell Jordan (known for 1995 single “This is How We Do It”), Kelis (singer of 2003’s “Milkshake”), Donna Lewis (the voice behind 1996 hit “I Love You Always Forever”), Haddaway (singer of 1993’s “What is Love”) and Ylvis (the duo behind 2013 song “What Does the Fox Say”). 

Finally, Diddy hears a winning tune—but it may not be the one viewers expect.   

The spot, created by agency Special U.S., will air during the second ad break of the game’s second quarter. Andreas Nilsson directed it through production company Biscuit. 

A new marketing goal

Uber’s last two Super Bowl ads promoted delivery service Uber Eats, but this year it has redirected the spotlight to its membership program. The Diddy spot will kick off an integrated campaign for Uber One, which will be “one of the main marketing focuses for the first half of this year,” said Georgie Jeffreys, head of marketing at Uber Eats. 

The company introduced Uber One in late 2021, combining rides and deliveries under one subscription service. Now, with Uber One entering its second year, the brand wants to bring the program to a wider audience and attract more sign-ups. 

“Uber One’s momentum has been significant in the first year, but it’s time to take it much broader and tell America about it—and what better opportunity to do that than the Super Bowl?” Jeffreys explained. “It’s important to us that the spot gets stuck in people’s heads.”

The Super Bowl is “just the beginning” of a “robust” Uber One campaign that will promote different aspects of the program, she added. Viewers can expect to see different iterations of the ad and its stars appear across a wide range of channels, including TikTok.  

“Our intention is to put all the artists [who appear in the ad] in the spotlight in their own way,” Jeffreys said.    

Following the game, Uber will run a promo from Feb. 7 to 19, offering three free months of Uber One, which typically costs $9.99 in the U.S. The benefits include no delivery fee, up to 10% off Uber Eats orders and 5% off Uber rides.  

For the latest Super Bowl 57 advertising news—who’s in, who’s out, teasers, full ads and more—check out Adweek’s Super Bowl 2023 Ad Tracker and the rest of our stories here. And join us on the evening of Feb. 12 for the best in-game coverage of the commercials.

CREDITS:

Brand: Uber
Vice president, global marketing: David Mogensen
Global executive creative director: Danielle Hawley
Head of marketing, North America: Georgie Jeffreys
Global creative director: Ecole Weinstein 
Marketing manager II: Liza Keller
Social & digital marketing lead: Kaitlyn Mendoza
Sr marketing manager: Meredith Savatsky
Brand media lead: Gracie Childress
Brand media manager: Keith Shattuck
Research and insights lead: Dana LaMendola
Agency: Special US
Partner / CEO: Cade Heyde 
Partner / Executive creative directors: Dave Horton, Matthew Woodhams-Roberts
Partner / Chief strategy officer: Kelsey Hodgkin
Creative director: Phil Fattore
Associate creative director: Alyssa Cavanaugh
Executive producers: Amanda Weiss, Felix Messina
Producers: Luke Franek, Chloe Seitz
Head of strategy: Kelsey Karson
Strategy director: Janet Shih
General manager: Dom Dalton
Account directors: Lindsay Friedgood, Bella Timar
Head of business affairs: LaTanya Ware
Business affairs lead: Keli Christy
Partner agency: Special Australia
Partners / CCOs: Tom Martin, Julian Schreiber
Production company: Biscuit
Director: Andreas Nilsson
Partner/Managing director: Shawn Lacy
Head of production: Sean Moody
Executive producer: Holly Vega
Producer: Andrew Travelstead 
Production supervisor: Ryan Bishop
Edit: Exile
Editors: Jacob Schulsinger, Katie Turinski, Nate Gross 
Assistant editors: Eliza Kanter, Jonathan Rogers  
Head of production Michael Miller 
Executive producer Jennifer Locke 
Managing partner: CL Kumpata 
Senior producer: Brian Schimpf  
Associate producer: Dylan Majerus 
Color: Trafik
Colorist: Dimitri Zola
Executive producer: Meghan Lang Bice
Producer: Julia King 
VFX: Pariah
Head of production: Michael Steinman
Producer: Andrew Rosenberger
Music: Walker
Owner/Managing director: Sara Matarazzo
Senior producer: Danielle Soury
Sound design & mix: Eleven Sound
Sound designer & mixer: Jordan Meltzer
Executive producer: Melissa Brewer
Producer & assistant mixer: Andrew Smith