Uber Eats and Special US — along with PHD, O Positive, Exile and Pariah — took home the Grand Effie, the award aimed at recognising the year's most effective marketing effort, for their 'Football is for Food' campaign, says the awards.

At a time when sports marketing is more crowded than ever, Uber Eats transformed football fandom into a growth platform for the brand — aiming to reframe one of America's biggest cultural passions through the lens of food delivery. Through strategic positioning, entertainment partnerships and culturally resonant creative, the campaign aimed to drive both business results and brand impact at scale, adds the awards.

The campaign earned additional honors throughout the night, including Gold awards in Delivery Services and Brand Integration and Entertainment Partnerships.

"The Effies exist to celebrate work that works. Work that clearly illustrates how effectiveness comes from the combination of strong strategy, creative courage and results that move business forward," says Traci Alford, Global CEO, Effie Worldwide. "This year's Grand winner exemplified that balance beautifully — demonstrating how brands can tap into culture in a way that truly speaks to the consumer."

The Grand Effie is selected from the year's top-scoring Gold Effie winners. This year's contenders aimed to reflect the expanding definition of modern marketing effectiveness — spanning entertainment, healthcare, beauty, streaming, food and breakthrough science. Together, the work aimed to demonstrate how effective marketing can drive sustained business growth, reshape consumer perceptions and create cultural impact across categories and audiences, says the awards.

According to the awards, this year's Grand Effie contenders, alongside Uber Eats, included:

  • Colossal Biosciences: 'The First Dire Wolf Howl in over 10 000 Years'.
  • Kenvue and BBDO New York: 'Neutrogena Remembers', with OneVue and Alison Brod Marketing and Communications.
  • Novartis, and Merkley and Partners: 'Your Attention Please', with Ketchum, The Marketing Arm, Publicis Groupe and Moxie Pictures.
  • Pantene, Procter and Gamble, and Grey New York: 'Unexpired Pantene', with Marina Maher Communications and VML.
  • Pringles, Kellanova and FCB New York: 'Call of the Mustaches', with Weber Shandwick, Starcom Media, Momentum and MJZ.
  • Tubi and Mischief @ No Fixed Address: 'How Tubi Broke Category Conventions To Break Through In Streaming', with VaynerMedia.

Mischief @ No Fixed Address won in multiple categories, earning wins for brands including Coors Light, Chili's, e.l.f. Cosmetics, JCPenney, Tubi and eos. Heinz and The Kraft Heinz Company were recognised across several categories, including a Gold Effie for 'Mustard x Mustard', which also earned top honours in Multicultural Marketing, says the awards.

Mastercard and McCann XBC earned top recognition for, 'Abracadabra: From Fan To Featured', winning Gold in Engaged Community — Services and additional honours across youth and social categories. Novartis', 'Your Attention Please' campaign emerged as a major winner in Health and Wellness, taking home Gold in Rx — Consumer / DTC and additional recognition for disease awareness and education, adds the awards.

Last Prisoner Project's 'The Pen to Right History' earned Golds in both Social Good — Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Social Good — Non-Profit categories, aimed at underscoring the growing impact of purpose-driven work rooted in measurable outcomes, says the awards.

The Sustained Success categories once again recognised brands that have aimed to demonstrate long-term business impact over multiple years. This year's Gold winners included Tubi for 'How Tubi Broke Category Conventions To Break Through In Streaming' and The Ajinomoto Group for 'How Ajinomoto Changed America's Minds about MSG'.

"This year's winners demonstrated the power of effectiveness across every category, from global brands and challengers to non-profits and emerging platforms," says Traci Alford. "What united them were bold ideas, fresh thinking and a distinct ability to create impact in unexpected ways. Tonight's winners have shown us that effectiveness can come from anywhere and take many forms."

In addition to honouring this year's most effective campaigns, the Effie Awards also revealed the yearly rankings for most effective agencies, networks, holding companies, marketers and brands. The United States rankings are calculated from finalist and winning entries and will contribute to the 2026 Global Effie Index, releasing in 2027, says the awards.

According to the awards, the following winners for Bronze, Silver and Gold included:

  • Most Effective Agency Offices: Mischief @ No Fixed Address, McCann, VML.
  • Most Effective Independent Agencies: Mischief @ No Fixed Address, Special Group, Alison Brod Marketing and Communications.
  • Most Effective Agency Networks: McCann Worldgroup, VML, BBDO Worldwide.
  • Most Effective Holding Companies: Omnicom, Interpublic (IPG), WPP.
  • Most Effective Brands: Uber Eats, Chili's, Last Prisoner Project.
  • Most Effective Marketers: Kraft Heinz Company, Uber, Brinker International.

All 2026 Gold-winning campaigns are eligible to compete in next year's Global Best of the Best Effie Awards, where the world's most effective marketing efforts will compete for Global Grand Effies and the Iridium Effie, concludes the awards.

For more information, visit www.effieawards.co.za. You can also follow Effie South Africa on Facebook, or on Instagram.

*Image courtesy of contributor