For most DoorDash Super Bowl commercials, which included local Daveed Diggs from the Bay Area and characters from Sesame Street, it was unclear what was being announced.
When the lovely set-up of neighborhood restaurants came to an end and it became clear that DoorDash was behind the ad, the internet blew out a collective sigh of disappointment.
Criticized by the treatment given to drivers (who were conspicuously absent in the ad) and predatory pricing schemes, the food delivery app attracted quick online condemnation, including Congresswoman Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego, who tweeted her disdain for her business practices.
The Internet was also not particularly kind to Diggs, contrasting the clean, high-pitched tone of the ad with its more abrasive experimental rap design cut.
And although the service has announced that it will donate a dollar of each order today and tomorrow to the nonprofit educational Sesame Workshop (up to $ 1 million), Twitter user Ben Ustick unzipped the numbers behind that donation, which puts in perspective the size of the gesture.
Bay Area’s relationship with the delivery service is complicated, at best, with many small business owners seeing it as a “necessary evil” that has grown a lot to be ignored, despite high fees.
Watch the full announcement below: