Uber One Lets Taiwan Know, You Never Have to Eat Dirt Again

Uber One, the subscription-based membership program offering savings and deals across Uber and Uber Eats, has launched in Taiwan with a fun campaign with Special and local creative agency, Whatever.

The ‘Never Eat Dirt Again’ campaign takes the colloquial axiom ‘I have to eat dirt now’ - often used by Taiwanese when running short on money, especially when waiting for payday - and flips it on its head.

Whatever creative director, Shiny Lee, said, “In Taiwan, there’s a local phrase, ‘I’ll have to eat dirt’, for when you’ve run out of money at the end of the month. It’s a light-hearted metaphor people use when they can’t afford fancy food. Luckily, with the great savings and deals on Uber One, you’ll never have to eat dirt again.”

Special reverse engineered the culturally sticky insight to create a series of comical scenarios that reminds value-seeking Taiwanese they’ll never have to resort to eating dirt again with Uber One’s incredible member savings and exclusive deals at their fingertips.

Uber APAC creative director Special, James Sexton, said, “Leveraging a well-known saying allowed us to position Uber One in a culturally relevant way, and the literal portrayal of a world where people are about to eat dirt, further leans into the brand’s willingness to not take itself too seriously.”

Campaign creative playfully portrays individuals on the verge of consuming the dirt cascading from their refrigerators, microwave ovens, toasters, rice cookers, cupboards, and even cereal boxes - until they discover the cost saving value of Uber One.

The brand campaign, including hero 30 and 15 second films, runs across TV, OLV, OOH and social, while a complementary product campaign element spans OLV, OOH, social and display.

Uber Eats head of marketing, Melissa Chen, said, “I am so proud of “our dirty baby” birthed by the best crew of local and international talent. We are able to infuse the power of an established cultural vernacular to our creative ambition and our mission to serve Taiwanese’ desires in getting the best savings and value with Uber One.”

The campaign went live on 26 September and runs through to December.