Over the 150-year history of formation and development, Heinz – the world’s leading food brand still receives many compliments for its youthful, creative and trendy advertising campaigns. “Heinz Smile” is no exception – the campaign was just launched by Heinz in early October, in the atmosphere of the approaching Halloween festival. However, immediately after its launch, Heinz had to apologize and remove this advertisement immediately because it contained racist images.
Joining hands with GUT New York, Heinz created the “Heinz smile” created by drawing Heinz ketchup on the face. The Brand has delicately combined visual and emotional elements to create an image. featured image – a wide, smudged but happy smile to express the user’s complete joy when enjoying Heinz ketchup The image of the “Heinz smile” not only evokes a sense of fun and humor It also shows Heinz’s unique way of approaching users. The spooky but funny and adorable smiles make it one of the most impressive Halloween marketing campaigns.
Heinz launched a new campaign in the Halloween spirit
“Heinz Smiles” has not only focused on the attachment that consumers have to the brand but also exploited the Halloween spirit to the fullest. Seasonal Marketing – The concept of seasonal marketing, aimed at promoting the brand image to customers through the spread of the event, was used by Heinz very calculatedly and skillfully. Besides the barbaric “Heinz smile” made from ketchup, the company has changed its familiar slogan “It Has to Be Heinz” wall “It Ha-Ha-Has to Be Heinz”creating a Creative variation that fits the spooky atmosphere of the holiday season.
Heinz’s bold creation with a big, smudged grin made from ketchup
Thanks to that, the brand has created the perfect connection between the product and the event at the right time, helping customers feel that using Heinz on Halloween has become an indispensable part of their experience. Along with that, the image of “Heinz smile” also has a strong visual impact, attracting attention and encouraging users to create their own UGC (User-Generated Content) about their experience with the product.
“It has to be Heinz” has become the slogan that made the company’s name
Hannah Winterbourne, Head of Heinz Europe and Pacific, shared: “We know that when it comes to Heinz, our fans are willing to do anything to get the ‘best’ ketchup, even if it means humiliating them. Inspired by this, we exploited a cultural moment (Halloween), combined with Heinz’s signature product (ketchup) and unique humor (evil smile) to create this. something simple that speaks to the great taste of Heinz, while also bringing joy to the user. We look forward to the fans’ reactions and hope to bring unexpected smiles to everyone’s faces this Halloween season.”
After 150 years on the market, Heinz still impresses with its unique and trendy promotional strategy
Meanwhile, Lucas Bongioanni, Creative Director of GUT New York, said: “Heinz Smiles’ was created to express everyone’s great love for Heinz during this moment in pop culture around Halloween. The feeling of getting ketchup all over your face is the perfect way to connect with consumers globally and spark conversations around the brand. We are proud that this campaign by GUT New York has elevated an iconic brand by combining the right product (ketchup) with the right time (Halloween) . ”
“Heinz Smile” is part of a larger global strategy called “It Has to Be Heinz” – a platform launched last year that has contributed to Heinz’s 12% global growth and helped the brand strengthen its global presence. “Heinz Smile” is also strongly supported by Heinz’s in-house creative team – The Kitchen – which produces culturally relevant content quickly and efficiently, ensuring that Heinz stays relevant and relevant to contemporary tastes.
Despite having an in-house agency to help with the campaign, Heinz still made a mistake with the “Heinz Smile.” The ad was quickly criticized for its depiction of a black man. Many felt it was reminiscent of “Blackface” and the racist minstrel shows of the 19th and early 20th centuries, where white actors dressed up as black men with exaggerated features, often including oversized red lips.
“Heinz Smile” is part of a larger global strategy called “It Has to Be Heinz”
Andre Gray, Creative Director of Annex88, shared on LinkedIn: “Why do we still lack culturally diverse teams that can thoroughly vet the meaning of an image before it is released to the world?”
Parent company Kraft Heinz immediately apologized for the campaign. “As a consumer-focused company, we are actively listening and learning, and sincerely apologize for any offense the ‘Heinz Smiles’ campaign may have caused,” a Kraft Heinz spokesperson said. “While the goal of the campaign was to engage with popular culture, we recognize that this does not excuse the mistakes it may have caused. We are committed to doing better and are working to remove the ad immediately.” The ads had previously been run in several European countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Italy.
This is the second time in a row that Heinz has had to apologize for racist advertising within days of each other. Previously, the brand caused outrage with an OOH ad in subway stations, featuring a wedding image of a black bride and a white groom. What caused public outrage was the absence of the bride’s father, with only her mother joining the groom’s parents. Many argued that this reinforced negative stereotypes about black families, especially the absence of black fathers.
The ad was part of a larger campaign to promote Heinz’s large-size pasta sauce, but it received a lot of flak on social media. Some pointed out the unfairness of the erasure of black fathers, with writer Nels Abbey criticizing the ad for ignoring an important aspect of black family representation. In response to the criticism, Heinz apologized, acknowledged that the ad may have unintentionally perpetuated negative stereotypes, and pledged to learn from the feedback
Conclusion:
Although it has only been released for a few days, “Heinz Smile” has already made a strong impression with its bold creative idea. Taking advantage of customers’ love and attachment to the brand, combined with pop culture elements just in time for the holiday season, the wide and dirty “Heinz smiles” are the connection between users. with brand. At the same time, this campaign will also help Heinz become part of the cultural story during Halloween. Thereby, Heinz continued its success with the Seasonal marketing strategy by cleverly taking advantage of special holidays to attract customers’ attention and increase brand love.
By leveraging the love and attachment of customers to the brand, combined with the elements of popular culture in time for the holiday season, the big, smudged “Heinz Smile” can be the connection between users and the brand. However, the lack of cultural control also caused Heinz to make a serious mistake with the image of a black man raising the issue of racism. Heinz immediately apologized, removed the ad, and the “Heinz Smile” left a great lesson for the brand to be more careful in the censorship process before launching to the public.
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