The Heinz Smile

    In this post I will write about Heinz's "Smiles" campaign.  This campaign caught my attention, as it may have caught yours, because of its Joker-Like portrayal of the people in the adds.  The visual was so striking it caused me to investigate.  In their ad campaign there are a series of photos with different people eating foods lathered in Heinz ketchup.  The Photos show the people eating the foods with their lips covered in ketchup, much like the makeup classically seen in portrayals of DC's infamous villain, The Joker.  As we look into this ad campaign, we will dive into a case study on the advertising strategy and analyze details such as the adds relevance and what makes it unique, then critique their use of those strategies.

    In the article I read on this campaign, Case Study: Heinz's "Smiles" Campaign (2024), the author strategically touches on several key reasons the add has been successful. First, they talk about how the add attempts to amplify the "Irrational love" Heinz tends to evoke in its customers.  To do this Heinz uses the cultural moment to their advantage, releasing the add just prior to Halloween.  As mentioned in the article, the ad campaign also furthers their "It has to be Heinz" brand platform which helps to promote brand loyalty.  Towards the end of the article, the author talks about the collaboration between Heinz's in house agency, "The Kitchen" and "Gut New York" to make the concept a reality.  Overall, the author claims the campaigns success lies in the simplicity, humor, and bold visuals seen in the ads.

    Beyond this ad campaign, Kraft Heinz primarily focuses on delivering consumer grade food products that are affordable, and loveable.  The thing that makes this ad relevant today is the way it connects the enjoyment of Heinz Ketchup with the upcoming holiday, Halloween, and many people's favorite villain, The Joker.  The connections are first subconscious, with a striking hook, then have a playful aftertaste as you recognize the joy on the people's faces.  The ad manages to catch a childlike playfulness while also capturing the eeriness people love from Halloween and connect it to their product.

    The challenge Heinz faces is developing recognition but rather giving their already established products a breath of new life to bring them back to the forefront.  With the intersection of Halloween and The Joker, the references in these ads lend themselves to college age people, who are often content buying the cheapest brands to save money.  Bringing this demographic into the customer base is key to revitalizing their product.

    With all this in mind, the campaign is a success and effectively utilizes several important marketing
strategies.  Even while writing this, every person who has walked in my room and seen my screen has made a remark about how striking the images are.  That being said, if I were in charge of this campaign, I would insist on making short videos to go with each of the photos.  The purpose of these videos would be to tell a more complete story of the characters in the photos.  I was personally disappointed when I clicked on the ad and there was no video.  The story told could be a goofy horror short film featuring these happy characters as the villains or something resembling a zombie apocalypse where the ketchup takes control of them.  Either way, the power of short videos is immense with most popular social media platforms having some version of reels or shorts.  With this addition, Heinz could have more effectively caught the attention of the younger generation

    During my research I learned to think from the perspective of a company who is well established.  Thinking about who their audience might be was only the first layer, it seemed that most importantly for them, it was about having a clear vision of HOW to revitalize a product.  Thinking about that gave me a different perspective on what it looks like to advertise to an already familiar customer base.