Heinz ads take aim at restaurants that refill its iconic bottles with generic ketchup

The good-natured ‘Ketchup Fraud’ from Rethink was inspired by a Snapchat post and will involve outreach to offending restaurants

Published On
Mar 28, 2023
A restaurant worker refilling a Heinz ketchup bottle with generic ketchup, along with the headline "Even when it isn't Heinz, it has to be Heinz"

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Heinz Ketchup is back with another fun campaign from Rethink, this one taking stock, in typically engaging fashion, of another consumer behavior—or actually, restaurateur behavior, with the consumer peeking in.

The campaign, called “Ketchup Fraud,” centers on restaurants that refill Heinz Ketchup bottles with generic ketchup, in an attempt to save a few bucks. 

The campaign, showing restaurant workers caught in the act, includes large-scale OOH placements in New York City and Chicago, along with magazine ads, newspaper inserts and social media.

A restaurant worker refilling a Heinz ketchup bottle with generic ketchup, along with the headline "Even when it isn't Heinz, it has to be Heinz"

A restaurant worker refilling a Heinz ketchup bottle with generic ketchup, along with the headline "Even when it isn't Heinz, it has to be Heinz"

A restaurant worker refilling a Heinz ketchup bottle with generic ketchup, along with the headline "Even when it isn't Heinz, it has to be Heinz"

Megan Lang, marketing director at Heinz North America, said the insight came from a Snapchat video. 

“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,” she said. “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 provided the screenshot below, which appears to come from a 2016 video that was later posted on Twitter—and appeared to show the restaurant chain Nando’s engaging in ketchup fraud. (Nando’s claimed it was using the squeezable container for easier decantation—that it still contained Heinz.)

Snapchat video of a restaurant worker appearing to refill a Heinz ketchup bottle with generic ketchup

“It’s a real behavior that we noticed all over the world and wanted to bring to light,” said Mike Dubrick, chief creative officer and partner for Rethink. “It shows just how much weight the Heinz brand carries and how much even just the bottle speaks to quality.”

Dubrick said the work came from a cross-office collaboration, including Toronto and the newly formed New York office. “We really leaned on the whole team to bring to life such a global behavior,” he said. “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.” 

That latter goal involves going beyond the ads by asking consumers to use Instagram to tag their favorite restaurants who they suspect of committing ketchup fraud. Heinz will connect with the most-tagged restaurants directly and “work together with them to find a solution,” the brand said.

Media for the campaign was handled by Starcom’s Publicis 57 team.

Rethink has earned widespread acclaim for its Heinz Ketchup work in recent years. Those efforts have included “Draw Ketchup” (where they asked consumers to do just that—and they invariably drew Heinz), “Ketchup AI” (where they asked AI to do the same) and “Heinz Vintage Drip” (a line of thrifted clothing featuring ketchup stains).

Credits

Date
Mar 28, 2023
Client :
Heinz Ketchup
Agency :
Rethink
CCO :
Aaron Starkman
CCO :
Mike Dubrick
CCO :
Daniel Lobaton
CSO :
Sean McDonald
ECD :
Xavier Blais
Creative Director :
Skye Deluz
Creative Director :
Jacquelyn Parent
Creative Director :
Fernando Hernandez
Writer :
Jacquelyn Parent
Writer :
Nicolas Dubois
Writer :
Xavier Blais
Art Director :
Skye Deluz
Strategist :
Julian Morgan
Strategist :
Emma Bayfield
Strategist :
Clément Martin
Strategist :
Pascal Routhier
Producer :
Tricia Lapidario
Producer :
Kate A. Spencer
Post Supervisor :
R+D Post
Post Supervisor :
Megan O'Connor
Post Supervisor :
Shannon Ing
Integrated Producer :
Kate A. Spencer
Studio :
Brad Kumar
Studio :
Justin Chan
Studio :
Kostas Loukopoulos
Group Business Lead :
Adam Ball
Group Account Director :
Jamie Sutherland
Account Director :
David Greisman
Account Director :
Catherine Blouin-Mainville
Account Supervisor :
Jamie Flatow
Account Manager :
Rachel Cloth
Photographer :
Ale Burset
Production Company :
Wolf Credo Production Co
Executive Producer :
Marcela Moracci
Line Producer :
Mariano Legname García
Line Producer :
Ariel Ticona Molina
Editor :
R+D Post
Editor :
Eugene Aglushevich
Online :
Frame Distillery VFX
Online :
Rob Del Ciancio
Color :
R+D Post
Color :
Emmett Maloney
Audio :
Grayson Music Group

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