It’s Star Trek vs. Star Wars in the latest “Tonight I’ll Be Eating” ads from Uber Eats, featuring Sir Patrick Stewart and Mark Hamill
On Monday, fans of both Star Trek and Star Wars finally got what they’ve been wanting for years. Franchise stars Mark Hamill and Sir Patrick Stewart have gotten together for a face-off, a showdown, a verbal “battle royale”, if you will - all in the name of Uber Eats.
A report from Adweek showcased a series of new, socially-distanced ads for the food delivery service. Each ad brings Stewart and Hamill together in a dark warehouse, trying to decide what to eat for dinner. In one of the commercials, Hamill says he will have his meal “without tomatoes”. Stewart, in turn, contradicts the Jedi master, deciding on a “four cheese tortellini with extra ‘to-mah-toes’”, emphasizing the English pronunciation. Tensions rise as Hamill produces a baseball bat. Stewart is not defenseless, however, wielding a cricket bat of his own. When it looks like the confrontation is about to come to blows, dinner arrives, just in time. The battle is avoided, but not before confusion sets in over what appear to be Hamill’s latent “daddy issues”, clearly alluding to the character of Darth Vader.
Two additional commercials were also produced. Stewart and Hamill engage in more verbal sparring as they compete against each other, playing air hockey and Connect Four. The ads are a part of the Uber Eats “Tonight I’ll Be Eating” campaign that launched in 2019. Georgie Jefferys, the US and Canadian head of marketing for Uber Eats, said the idea behind the campaign is to “surprise and delight audiences across the world by bringing together iconic, yet seemingly unlikely duos”. Jefferys went on to say, “Working with celebrity talent helps us put a creative, engaging spin on our typical marketing messaging while appealing to their fans as well.”
It seems pretty clear that these commercials are all in good fun and bring a light-hearted approach to these sometimes divided fandoms. You can check out all three Uber Eats commercials featuring Stewart and Hamill on the Uber Eats YouTube channel. And of course, other food delivery services are available.