Why Uber Eats won last night’s U.S. Grand Effie Award

Inside a Midtown Manhattan conference room on May 7th, 2026, twelve judges gathered to decide which of the seven Gold Effie-winning cases from earlier judging rounds would be awarded the prestigious Grand Effie. The decision would be made that day.

None of the Gold winners were known publicly, nor to the judges in advance. And the Grand Effie winner would only be announced from the stage at the U.S. Gala Awards night in NYC last night, May 27th.

At the end of the judging day, a select group of judges joined me to talk about the process of judging and why they made the decision they did.

So, here it is, my conversation with the judges, which took place after they had made their decision and crowned Uber Eats, and their agency Special Group, the 2026 U.S. Grand Effie winners.