Culture

Junkee Investigation: Just How Much Did Uber Eats Pay Kim Kardashian?

Can't have been cheap.

by Michelle Rennex  25 November 2019
Uber Eats Kim Kardashian West

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By now you’ve likely seen the iconic Uber Eats ad featuring Sharon Strzelecki and Kim Kardashian West.

Uber Eats latest campaign has included some of Australia’s most recognisable celebrities and characters – from the dynamic duo of Ruby Rose and Rebel Wilson all the way to the supergroup trio of Jimmy Barnes, John Farnham and Ahn Do.

But last night they released their newest ad with the most unexpected celebrity imaginable — Kim Kardashian West. Uber Eats somehow managed to enlist Kim to star alongside Magda Szubanski in an ode to Kath & Kim.

Reprising her role as Sharon, Magda and Kim sit on the couch in their netball bibs and discuss what’s on the menu for dinner. Sharon tries to teach Kim how to say “noice” and to be honest, it’s a pretty funny ad.

But the question on everyone’s lips is: How much would this have cost Uber Eats?

Seriously, This Would’ve Cost A Small Fortune

Kim Kardashian West is nothing if not a smart businesswoman focused on making money. I mean, how can we forget her iconic Sketchers Shape-ups Super Bowl ad?

Today, Kim usually just sticks to Instagram sponsorships when it comes to lending her face to a brand. But somehow Uber Eats managed to nab her for their latest advertisement, and that wouldn’t have been cheap.

To figure out how much Uber Eats would’ve had to fork over, we have to take a look at what Kim is normally paid for brand deals.

So How Much Is Kim Actually Worth?

Kim Kardashian West has a net worth of a whopping US$350 million, and that is without including her husband’s earnings.

Kim earns her money from a few places, one of which is the family reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, where Kim earns a share of US$30 million per season. With approximately 15 episodes a season, that’s a share in US$2 million an episode. YEP. AN EPISODE. And that’s not including all the spin-off seasons and one-off specials (ahem, Kim’s Fairytale Wedding).

Kim also makes money off her companies like her newly launched shape wear line, Skims, and her cosmetics company KKW Beauty. While Skims is still relatively new, KKW Beauty made more than US$100 million in sales last year.

Despite doing appearances earlier in her career, Kim doesn’t really do them that often now. But that might come down to her fee over all else. In 2012, Kim allegedly bagged US$300,000 for a club appearance at 1Oak in Vegas. In 2016, Kim supposedly earned US$700,000 for an hour-long appearance at the Revolve Hampton House Party.

Based off the jump in her appearance fees, it can be assumed that appearance fees in 2019 would likely cost well over a million dollars.

But it’s Kim’s sponsored Instagram posts that generate the big bucks, thanks to her 152 million followers. With different fees for in-feed posts and stories, Kim can charge anywhere between US$300,000 and US$500,000, all the way up to to US$1 million.

The fee fluctuates depending on the item and becomes more expensive if it’s something that has to be drank, ingested or put on the body. Kim also tends to avoid sponsorships with clothing brands, especially those that rip on her husband’s clothing designs.

A Cool Couple Million, Probably

 

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Unfortunately for us, there is no information online about how much Kim was paid for her Super Bowl ad. But after looking at how much Kim usually earns through her endorsement deals, we have to assume she was paid US$1 million at the very least.

If social branded posts go for a million, then an advertisement that required a full-day shoot, as seen on Sunday Night, must’ve went for at least double that. Kim spoke to Sunday Night while on the Uber Eats shoot, where a Uber Eats bag was placed firmly in the centre of the interview.

The partnership, at minimum, likely would’ve cost Uber US$2 million, but maybe this was Uber’s plan all along. The free media mentions off the back of the ad might just offset the small fortune that Kim Kardashian West would’ve cost them.

Plus it’s important to note that while Kim definitely would’ve 100% cost a shit-tonne, Uber Australia did make a gross profit of $785 million last year.

Smart move Uber Eats, smart move.