When consumers draw ketchup from their bottle at home, they’re pretty certain they know what they’re getting, particularly if the ketchup has built up a name brand like Heinz.
But at a restaurant? That may be a different story.
Inspired by a Snapchat that caught restaurant workers replenishing their Heinz containers with off-brand ketchup, the company has launched a new campaign to call out “Ketchup Fraud.” The campaign, which spans large-scale out-of-home placements in New York City and Chicago, premium magazines, newspaper inserts and social media, emphasizes the brand’s rallying cry, “It has to be Heinz.”
“We saw someone caught in the act of refilling Heinz with generic ketchup, which prompted us to dig in further – and through social listening we discovered this was a true and widespread behavior,” said Megan Lang, marketing director of Heinz North America, in a statement. “We thought, what better way to express our core brand belief that ‘It Has to Be Heinz’ than to simply amplify an existing consumer behavior in a supportive and funny way?”
The brand is asking consumers to get into the game, tagging restaurants that they have caught in the act of substituting ketchup or suspect of engaging in the practice for Heinz’s Instagram account. The company will reach out to those restaurants and work with them to find a solution to the “Ketchup Fraud” problem.
“It’s a real behavior that we noticed all over the world and wanted to bring to light. It shows just how much weight the Heinz brand carries and how much even just the bottle speaks to quality,” said Mike Dubrick, Chief Creative Officer and Partner for Rethink, which created the campaign in collaboration with Heinz-dedicated unit Publicis 57 and Zeno. “While we’re flattered by the behavior, ultimately, we want to make it unnecessary and are excited to work with the restaurants to do so.”
