The International Court of Justice (ICJ) have decided to ban Uber Eats in Portugal, Luxembourg, Spain, Denmark and Norway. Reason: Recent research from Eurostat indicates a clear link between Uber Eats and increasing divorce rates.

Uber Eats is a service that delivers food from various restaurants straight to your door. You use an app, punch in what you want to eat and drink, and then you can follow the delivery on a digital map. Its popularity has grown at tremendous rates and the disruptive concept is showing distinct consequences in other aspects of society.

In fact, the research published by Eurostat last week are so unmistakable that the ICJ see no other choice than to ban Uber Eats from the countries where the link is the most obvious. A 2 year ban has been issued initially, in order to monitor the development carefully before making a final decision in March 2021.

4 of the countries affected by the ban are on top of the global divorce statistics, namely Portugal, Luxembourg, Spain and Denmark. The divorce/marriage ratio here is as high as 71%.

The fifth country affected is Norway. The divorce rate there is “only” 42%, however the government has a history of interfering when international corporations try to enter the local market. Examples in recent years include KFC, Lidl and Uber. Norway was chosen as one of the countries where the ban would be put in place in order to get more diverse divorce data in the 2-year trial period.

It’s not the first time Uber Eats is in the news lately because of controversy. This article from The Guardian in September 2018 shows Uber Eats drivers in London blocking the streets to protest for a £5 minimum per delivery. The company has also been frequently criticized on the global scene for poor worker’s conditions.

The other side of the story shows recently divorced men around the world taking to the streets to protest against how the ban is making life difficult for them.

“After I left my wife I’ve become completely dependent on Uber Eats. What am I going to do now?” Juan Inamillion from Valencia in Spain asked the All-in blog.

“My wife was an amazing chef but I can’t cook for s***. What have they done!?” he continued.

Luckily other divorced men are finding good solutions, like Tony Middelfart from Funen in Denmark.

“I was doing some gardening when I suddenly felt my stomach rumbling. I looked down at my rake, one of the few things my wife left me with, and had this awesome idea for barbecuing 12 sausages at the same time” he said.

“All the local divorced men are gathering in my garden every Friday. Some bring ketchup and others bring sautéed onion. It’s like a multi-purpose support group”.

Now they are flocking behind a common cry to the ICJ:

“Give us Uber Eats back. If not bring our wives back!”.