Uber Eats cuts peanut allergy scene from Beckham Super Bowl advert at last minute after backlash

Uber was forced to made the change to its Super Bowl LVIII advert after people complained it made a joke of people with nut food allergies

It’s America’s biggest sporting event of the year and is watched by more than 100 million people – so each year the world's biggest brands scramble to get screentime for their adverts during the Super Bowl.

This year Uber was among them, preparing a minute-long advert for its food delivery arm Uber Eats which featured celebrities like Victoria and David Beckham and Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer.

But the advert played out across sports fans’ screens on Sunday night for Super Bowl LVIII was edited just days beforehand after the company was accused of making light of people suffering from peanut allergies.

Uber was accused of making light of people with peanut allergies (Uber)

The advert begins with Friends star Aniston receiving a delivery from someone who says “I didn’t know you could get all this stuff on Uber Eats, I gotta remember that.”

Aniston replies: “You know what they say; to remember something you’ve got to forget something else.”

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It is followed by a series of scenarios in which people forget things. David Beckham asks Victoria if she was called “Pepper Lady”, and Aniston forgets she worked with co-Friends star Schwimmer.

Controversially, the advert also featured a man forgetting he had a peanut allergy, as seen in the video above - but this sparked a public outcry, and the company edited the clip out before the Super Bowl, which saw the Kansas City Chiefs beat Philadelphia Eagles in Las Vegas.

Super BoUber edited its Super Bowl advert just days before the event after a public outcry

Uber did not release a statement on the edited version, but the Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) charity thanked it for agreeing to cut out the man having an allergic reaction to peanut butter, according to the BBC.

The edit was done after FARE’s chief executive Sung Poblete had spoken to the company.

More than 100 million people around the world tuned in for the Super Bowl - not just for the football, but also the entertainment with Usher providing a half-time performance (PA)

In a statement on the group’s website on Friday, she said: “I have great news to share. I have spoken with Uber, they are very appreciative of FARE’s valuable perspective and feedback and have made a change to the ad that will air to the Super Bowl’s wide audience, they are editing out the reference to the peanut allergy.

“This is an amazing outcome. FARE would like to thank Uber for listening to our community and making the changes to their Super Bowl ad. After talking with them today, I believe we have a new ally in helping us navigate our journey with our disease.

“I want to thank you, our community, for speaking up so that our voices could be heard as we change the way life-threatening food allergies are perceived.”

Not everyone agreed, however. On the edited advert on YouTube, some viewers called for the original advert.

One person said: “As someone who is allergic to peanuts I was not offended and thought it was hilarious... You should have kept the scene in there.” Another said: “Very funny and you shouldn’t have deleted the peanut butter scene.”