Andy Murray at centre of row over advert that ‘promotes kidnapping’ and ‘depicts violent and threatening behaviour’.
The company involved have issued their reaction to the findings.
AN ADVERT for a food delivery service that starred Sir Andy Murray has been rapped by an Australian advertising watchdog.
The double Wimbledon champion, 37, was the focus of the UberEats campaign which was shown on TV during last month’s Australian Open.
It featured two delivery drivers as they attempted to catch Murray in order to deliver him to a customer.
But four complaints were made to the Ad Standards Community Panel over fears the ads showed an attempted kidnapping and depicted violence.
The Australian broadcasting panel ruled the advert was against their standards on health and safety.
In one sketch, the dad-of-four opened his Melbourne hotel room door to delivery staff but when he tells them he didn’t order anything they replied ‘we’re here for you’ and ‘we get all kinds of stuff now’ before he is finally asked to ‘get in the bag’.
The commercial featured Murray fleeing his hotel room and leaping through a window to escape to the street below.
The campaign, which featured four versions of the advert, was meant to poke fun at the food ordering company’s mission to ‘get almost anything delivered… including one of the greatest players of all time.’
One complaint over the campaign said: “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 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.”
A complaint on kidnapping was upheld with the panel finding it ‘depicted violent and threatening behaviour’ under two sections of the Australian Association of National Advertisers’ code of ethics.
The panel found Murray jumping through the window was ‘unlikely to lead to copy-cat behaviour’ with him being shown to be injured and others choosing not to follow him.
In response to the finding, Uber Eats said: “Uber Eats 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.
“The broadcast elements referenced in the complaints were discontinued on January 26, 2025, at the conclusion of the two-week campaign period.”