Working parents rarely have enough time to drive their kids everywhere they want to go, so Uber is offering up its services with a new product for teenagers. Uber Teen launched earlier this year and allows 13- to 17-year-olds to hail rides through their family’s account.
Creative agency Johannes Leonardo led the first ad campaign for Uber Teen, with a trio of films inspired by real stories about parenthood and teenage life. The spots reassure parents that the service will allow them to keep up with key moments in their teens’ lives without making professional sacrifices.
Set to The Shirelles’ “Mama Said,” “Haircut” shows a teen disastrously trying to cut her own bangs and booking a trip to a salon, sending her mother a picture of the embarrassing look. Her mom is able to get a good laugh at the incident and track her daughter’s ride on the app without leaving her job at a hospital.
The sweet “In Love” spot shows a pair of teens leaving school to go on a movie date, with a daughter sending a text reassuring her dad she’ll be home by 7.
And in “Braces,” a dad gets a notification that his son has requested a ride from the orthodontist’s office back to high school. Set to Salt-N-Peppa’s “Whatta Man,” the film focuses on the teen’s giddiness as he shows off his new smile.
“While these are product spots, they’re also much more than that—they’re human-centric and emotional,” Uber head of global brand and creative Danielle Hawley told Adweek. “We tied a feeling to each one. For example, ‘Braces’ was meant to evoke joy, so every beat, casting choice, and shot was meant to elicit that emotion.”
The campaign will run across social, out-of-home and audio to raise awareness of the new product.
“We needed something that was going to introduce this kind of life-changing product for parents who really want to be there for every moment of their teenager’s lives,” Johannes Leonardo group creative director Zoe Kessler said. “The new campaign shows that even when you can’t be there, you don’t have to miss anything. We wanted to telegraph each of these emotions that teens go through, and in turn, the way their parents feel those feelings with them from a distance.”
CREDITS:
Uber
Head of marketing, North America: Georgie Jeffreys
Head of marketing, U.S. & Canada: Nick Silver
Senior marketing manager: Liza Keller
Senior marketing manager: Faria Jabbar
Global executive creative director: Danielle Hawley
Global creative director – masterbrand & mobility: Natalie Purbrick
Associate creative director: Tu Phan
Head of production: Ted Markovic
Senior producer: Emily Senecal
Business affairs manager: Marie Hernandez
Johannes Leonardo
Founder & CCO: Leo Premutico
Group creative director: Zoe Kessler
Creative director: Grace Martin
Senior copywriter: Laura Schear
Senior art director: Claire Golladay
Head of account management: Connor Keeshan
Group account director: Heather Olson
Senior account director: Trevor Mundt
Account supervisor: Regina Raphael
Head of production: Tasha Cronin
Executive producer: Kelly Treadway
Senior producer: Forrest Holt
Producer: Sydney Kow
Associate producer: Omar Zapata
Business affairs director: Alesa Blanchard-Nelson
Senior business affairs manager: Librado Sanchez
Group strategy director: Murali
Strategy director: Alessandra Noceda
Comms strategy director: Casey Donahue
Senior comms strategist: Sean Guthrie
Strategy director: Haley Derrah
Production: Somesuch Productions
Director: Vincent Haycock
Founding partner: Sally Campbell
Founding partner: Tim Nash
Managing director/executive producer: Seth Wilson
Head of production: Roger Zorovich
Producer: Luigi Rossi
Director of photography: Alexis Zabe
Production supervisor: Ashley Roberts
Commercial coordinator: Jessica Munroe
Co-producer/signatory: CMC Forecast
Production manager: Kristen Milligan
On set manager: Timothy Beverly
Editorial: EXILE
President & managing director: Sasha Hirshfield
Head of production: Pamela Cohen
Senior post producer: Kortney Rubottom
Editor: Travis Moore
Editor: Katie Turinski
Editor: Tyler Higgins
Primary Color
Colorist: Kya Lou
Post production: Yours Truly Kevin
Senior executive producer/partner: Sue Troyan
VFX producer: Andrew Cowderoy
Executive creative director/partner: Tim Davies
VFX lead artist: Gareth Parr
