TLDR: Uber and Snapchat have unveiled a new AI-powered advertising campaign titled ‘Can’t Do That If You’re Driving,’ starring country-pop icon Shania Twain and Australian comedian-musician Tom Cardy. The campaign highlights the freedoms and enjoyable moments passengers experience while riding with Uber, contrasting them with the limitations of driving. While the campaign is described as ‘AI-powered’ in some reports, specific details on the AI integration within the creative elements are not extensively detailed in available information.
Uber and Snapchat have joined forces to launch an innovative, AI-powered advertising campaign, ‘Can’t Do That If You’re Driving,’ featuring an unexpected yet captivating duo: global country-pop sensation Shania Twain and popular Australian comedian-musician Tom Cardy. The campaign, developed in collaboration with creative agency Special, aims to redefine the perception of driving by showcasing the unique, joyful, and often humorous experiences available to passengers in an Uber.
The core of the campaign is a hero film where Twain and Cardy perform an original, catchy song from the backseat of an Uber. This musical collaboration, described by Uber Australia’s Senior Marketing Manager Dan Greenberg as a ‘backseat banger Aussies love,’ emphasizes the playful and cheeky essence of the initiative. The song’s lyrics, penned by Special and Cardy, with Cardy also handling the composition and Twain providing input, highlight various activities one can enjoy as a passenger, from applying makeup to catching up on sleep.
Beyond the main film, the campaign extends its reach through a series of 15-second spots illustrating typical backseat moments. These advertisements are being rolled out across a comprehensive suite of media channels, including film, social media, digital platforms, out-of-home (OOH) advertising, and interactive in-app gaming experiences.
Nicole Bardsley, Head of Marketing for Uber Australia and New Zealand, expressed enthusiasm for the initiative, stating, “‘Can’t do that if you’re driving’ celebrates all the joyful, playful moments that happen in the backseat. We are thrilled to unlock the potential of this new campaign platform and can’t wait to continue to build on it.”
The creative pairing of Twain and Cardy was a deliberate choice to create a ‘surprising collaboration’ with broad appeal. Group Creative Directors Simon Gibson and Nils Eberhardt from Special noted, “For decades, pop culture has tried to convince us driving is a freeing… We wanted to find a pairing that felt surprising at first, but then felt very right… Tom and Shania have different fan bases but surprising similarities — they are both hugely talented singer-songwriters who don’t take themselves too seriously. And when you blend that together it makes for a surprising collaboration that gets a ton of attention but also an ear worm with really broad appeal.”
Tom Cardy shared his surreal experience of working with the music icon, recounting how he was initially unaware of his collaborator’s identity. “It was crazy,” Cardy told Variety AU/NZ, detailing how he found himself virtually directing Twain’s vocal takes. “I was literally saying, ‘Sing a bit more like this,’ and she was just incredible. She gets everything in one take.” He jokingly described the filming in Canada as “like being on a road trip for eight hours with Shania Twain… You’re constantly like, ‘Oh, sorry, can you scoot up a bit?'” Cardy believes his fans will appreciate the ‘fun, weird shit’ of seeing him dance in a car with Shania Twain.
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While the campaign is reported as ‘AI-powered,’ the specific mechanisms of AI integration within the creative content or advertising strategy are not extensively detailed in the available news reports. The broader context of the news source (Mi3) sometimes uses AI for image generation and describes itself as an ‘evolving AI project,’ suggesting the ‘AI-powered’ aspect might refer to underlying technological platforms or the news generation process itself rather than explicit AI-generated creative elements within the campaign’s public-facing content. Production for the campaign was handled by Finch, with Arc Edit managing picture-post and Rumble Studios overseeing sound design.
