A television advert featuring Andy Murray has been pulled by an Australian watchdog after people complained that it depicted kidnapping and violence.
Murray was the focus of an UberEats campaign which aired in the country during last month’s Australian Open. It featured a pair of delivery drivers as they attempted to catch the two-time Wimbledon champion and deliver him to a customer.
One scene in the advert shows Murray opening the door of his hotel room and being greeted by the delivery drivers. When he tells them he did not order anything, they reply ‘we’re here for you’ and ‘we get all kinds of stuff now’.
Murray is asked to ‘get in the bag’, prompting the 37-year-old to flee his hotel room by jumping out of a window and onto a nearby street. He is then chased through alleyways and a restaurant kitchen by the delivery drivers before finally evading capture.
At the end of the advert, a message on screen reads: “We haven’t caught him yet. But he can’t run forever.”
The advert was intended to highlight the company’s mission to ‘get almost anything delivered… including one of the greatest players of all time’.
However, it drew complaints from four viewers, who contacted the Ad Standards Community Panel to express concerns that it promoted violence and made light of kidnapping.
One complaint read: “Why is kidnapping being promoted as a normal act. It is against the law. The Uber ads will teach children it is OK to kidnap people.”
Another viewer added: “I am very concerned that the violence and criminal behaviour shown, and also heavily suggested, in this series of advertisements is a risk and a danger to the community.
“It is disturbing, unpleasant and uncomfortable to watch, especially seeing the fear and panic depicted by the victim, Andy Murray.”
The panel upheld a complaint about kidnapping, finding the advert ‘depicted violent and threatening behaviour’. However, they added that Murray leaping out of a window was ‘unlikely to lead to copycat behaviour’.
Responding to the findings, UberEats said: “UberEats thanks the Ad Standards Community Panel for its consideration and we acknowledge the valuable role they continue to play to promote responsible advertising.
“We maintain that the scenes broadcast were sufficiently exaggerated for comedic and dramatic effect and that no reasonable viewer would consider them realistic or as an endorsement of unsafe behaviour.
“Even so, we would like to thank the four members of the community for sharing their perspectives.”
