Heinz's Retro Ad Campaign Refreshes The Condiments Brand Through "Mad Men" References

The “Pass The Heinz” Posters Command Attention Through Bold, Savory Imagery

Design agency David The Agency was tasked with revolutionizing the Heinz brand, coming up with a variety of video and print campaigns to give the brand a modern edge, establishing itself as a leader in the condiments industry.

And their new campaign has some very retro roots.

The Heinz brand pulled the trigger on a decades-old, fictional campaign that used bold, retro imagery set against a clean background to emphasize the Heinz brand.

These posters sit as billboards and in magazines. They are bold and in your face, but what really catches your attention are the bright images that take up most of the design.

And these images aren’t of the ketchup.

Instead, the brand went with images of foods commonly used with ketchup. They used images of fries, meat, and burgers to talk about the brand and its products. And what better complement to a burger and fries than ketchup, right?

Nearly the entire poster is made up of this photography — from a piece of juicy steak on a fork to a pile of crinkle cut fries. These foods make you hungry. They make you salivate. And they make you say the phrase, “Pass The Heinz.”

That’s the only additional copy on the image. And it drops the product itself, opting to use the brand name in place of the product to give it a modern edge. We all know that Heinz does ketchup, so why bother calling it ketchup when saying Heinz makes just as much sense?

That’s the innovative nature of this design.

These prints work to give the brand a new edge and a new identity — one Don Draper was trying to instill in decades past but didn’t go into application until the 21st century.

Branding took a shift with this campaign, aligning the brand as a leader in the condiments industry and using simplicity and bold imagery to do so.

It’s also an innovative choice to opt out of using the product at all in its design. It’s a risky move — not including the product in the design has the potential to make people forget about the brand’s prominent products.

But in this poster campaign, it works.

This Simplistic Heinz Design Turns Heads

Another exciting aspect of this design is its simplicity. There are three specific aspects to this design, three moving parts that combine to create an eye-catching poster campaign that turns heads.

There is a bold photograph that sits at the bottom half of the poster. This food is tantalizing and exciting, but it is still just a photograph. The second aspect of the design is the tagline that sits at the top of the design in small, black typography. The phrase “Pass The Heinz” works to shift the brand’s image slightly, aligning the brand as an industry leader in condiments. The third aspect, however, is possibly the most powerful.

The bright, white negative spaces that surround these first two elements is immediately engaging and captivating. The cleanliness of the white color choice is pure, sophisticated, and modern.

This open layout provides a clean and organized backdrop for the vibrant images and typography. But this white background also adds depth, making the accompanying images pop from the page.

It’s the perfect choice to add excitement and fun to the overall design, adding a lightness and an enthusiasm that makes consumers think even more positively of the brand as a whole.

According to the Heinz branding head, Nicole Kulwicki:

Even though Don Draper created the ‘Pass the Heinz’ campaign almost 50 years ago, the communications still really work in today’s world. Mr. Draper really understood the one thing every Heinz fan knows, which is to never settle for the foods you love without the great taste of Heinz. What we loved about the campaign is that it doesn’t require paragraphs of copy to explain it. It features mouthwatering food images, and all that’s missing is the Heinz.

Get some inspiration for your own creating poster campaign from our Best Print Design section!

The Original Don Draper Campaign Pitch

This Heinz campaign concept isn’t new. It was actually first proposed decades ago from the man, myth and legend himself — Don Draper.

Ok, so it wasn’t actually created years ago — the world of Mad Men is fictional, after all — but Don Draper proposed this campaign to Heinz in the show, where it was quickly passed over by the executives hearing the pitch.

Here’s the pitch itself from the show Mad Men.

In the pitch, Don Draper proposes ditching the product imagery as a whole to instead focus on food items that can be used with the Heinz condiments. He also proposed the tagline “Pass The Heinz” to emphasize the importance of solidifying the brand’s prominence and expertise in the industry.

The campaign was created in a similar fashion to the “Got Milk” campaign. It encourages users to crave the products through simplicity and subtle suggestion.

The campaign was created, in part, to be a PR stunt. But it certainly makes an impact and says something about the brand and its future growth. And the campaign led to actual growth in revenue and brand awareness.

I mean, with these huge billboards lining the busy streets of New York, it’s hard for them not to leave a lasting impression.

Need more design insights and advice? Sign up for the DesignRush Daily Dose!

The Effectiveness Of The "Pass The Heinz" Campaign

David The Agency played with pop culture influences to create a PR stunt/poster campaign that wowed consumers and excited those who knew about its Mad Men roots. And the campaign actually had an impact on the brand and its growth.

Here’s a video the agency put together to show the campaign and its influence.

The result of this campaign was revolutionary for the brand. It saw 2.6 billion new media impressions, $55 million in earned media and became one of the most talked about brand campaigns in 2017.

It changed the way people looked at marketing and advertising, and added depth to the brand as a whole in their ability to successfully advertise their product without ever showing it or even mentioning it.

David The Agency CCO Anselmo Ramos had this to say about the creativity behind the creative campaign:

It’s so simple. Don did a great job. This is just 100 percent on-brand positioning. It is about never settling. You look at these beautiful shots of empty fries, or a burger, and there’s something missing. And when you say ‘Pass the Heinz,’ that’s all you need to say. You don’t need to show the product.

The choice to go with a campaign that originated from a television show was a stretch — the executives in the show had great reasons for denying the concept, so the agency ran the risk of giving Heinz an easy out. But instead, they used the power of pop culture to their advantage, creating a campaign that inspired consumers who knew the brand and knew the show.

It created a craving that couldn’t be ignored and a campaign that will never be forgotten.

Create a successful branding campaign with the assistance of these top digital agencies!

The Heinz Print Poster Campaign Made Condiments Cool 

Heinz is a brand known for its tasty condiments, but more specifically, it’s known for its ketchup. When you think Heinz, you definitely think of its tomato creation before anything else. And the creative Don Draper from the hit television show Mad Men knew that.

As a result, he came up with a clever and creative poster campaign that put the brand on full display without showing any of its products. He came up with a quippy tagline that captivated and caused cravings.

But even the Heinz execs in the show turned him down.

But this is the real world, and David The Agency loved this retro marketing and advertising campaigns. And when they pitched it, Heinz said yes.

The result was a dynamic campaign and PR stunt that focused on aligning the brand as a leader in ketchup and creating a craving without ever letting consumers see the condiment products they were promoting. It was a risky move, but one that worked, leading to revenue, impressions, and coverage that helped elevate the brand and promote business growth.

This Heinz campaign has pop culture roots, and that definitely helped it succeed. As a whole, the campaign is engaging and captivating, but it’s the ties to Mad Men and Don Draper that really grabbed attention and got people talking. And this seamless integration of product placement and pop culture influences paved the way for the future of Heinz and its creative endeavors.

If you need exciting print designs all your own, these great graphic design companies can help!