'Friends' stars end their 'break' in star-studded Super Bowl commercial for Uber Eats
The Super Bowl has taken on a life of its own thanks to both the popularity of the NFL and the interest around Taylor Swift’s relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. However there’s another storyline that non-football fans may gravitate to on Sunday.
Perhaps it could be called, "The One Where Ross and Rachel Reunite."
Uber Eats unveiled its star-studded big game ad on Tuesday. It features David and Victoria Beckham, country singer Jelly Roll, halftime show performer Usher and the duo of Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer."It’s the first time Jen and I have officially been on camera together, speaking dialogue, in many years," Schwimmer, 57, tells USA TODAY exclusively. "It was really natural. It was like throwing on a comfortable, warn-in jacket."
Of course the pair starred as Rachel Green and Ross Geller in the NBC sitcom, "Friends," which aired from 1994 to 2004. The show is iconic and was a part of Must See TV every Thursday night. A reunion in 2021 brought back many great memories for fans. Those memories were shared again in October when another "Friends" star, Matthew Perry, passed away.
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"I’m more careful with any idea (involving 'Friends')," Schwimmer admits. "It’s been floated before; the cast being in commercials together or doing other things and we’ve always been really careful about and really cautious as a cast of ever appearing in a way that might detract in some way (from the show).
"But what I liked about (the commercial) was, I thought the idea was funny. We’re playing ourselves, and not those characters, so it was kind of a no-brainer."
The premise of the commercial, created with the agency Special and produced by Gifted Youth, is that to remember Uber Eats has everything, you have to forget something. This leads to the Beckhams forgetting about the Spice Girls, Jelly Roll trying to scrub the tattoos off his face, Usher not remembering he performed the Super Bowl Halftime Show and Aniston forgetting she’s … friends with Schwimmer.
The actor will remember to watch the Super Bowl, noting that he’s excited for the rematch between the Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. Schwimmer isn’t exactly sure whether he’s hosting or going to another watch party, but it sounds like regardless he’ll be staying in the New York City area and, you guessed it, probably ordering something on Uber Eats. As far as the game is concerned, he’ll stick with staples like beer and guacamole. But he has other regular spots, too.
"I usually hit the restaurants in my neighborhood," Schwimmer, who lives downtown, says. "My go-to’s would probably be Two Boots Pizza or Jack’s Wife Frieda or Supper, this great Italian place I like."
The Uber Eats ad marks Schwimmer’s first Super Bowl commercial. He appeared in a big game campaign in 2018 for Skittles, but there wasn’t an Ad Meter-eligible commercial attached to it. Schwimmer has kept his involvement with the campaign a secret as he wants everyone, including his 12-year-old child, to be surprised come Sunday."I’m really excited," he says. "We’ll see what the reaction is. I hope it just makes people giggle."