A red or yellow card usually indicates an infringement on the field of play. Heinz has decided to change its meaning and take these two visual codes to the territory of flavor. The brand has presented “Penalty Packets”, a campaign that transforms football cards into larger ketchup and mustard sachets to accompany moments of consumption during games.
The initiative has been developed by The Kitchen, Kraft Heinz’s internal social agency in North America, and is based on the idea that fans have been complaining for years that a single packet of ketchup is usually not enough for a few fries, a hamburger or a shared table on match day.
Coinciding with the celebration of one of the great international football tournaments such as the World Cup, Heinz takes advantage of the visual familiarity of the red and yellow cards, which immediately refer to ketchup and mustard.
“Penalty Packets” thus proposes a format solution to an everyday problem. The new packets offer more sauce and allow consumers to “call for lack” when the food falls short of flavor. The campaign plays with arbitration language to present the envelopes as a tool with which fans can solve the shortage of condiments in real time. The frustration of a foul on the field is humorously displaced into the satisfaction of adding more Heinz to the table.
The idea will be developed through social content designed to integrate into the fans’ conversation during the games. The proposal thus reinforces the presence of the brand in the consumption rituals associated with sport, from meetings at home to informal meals around the broadcast.
Video source: @heinz
“Penalty Packets are based on the fact that football’s iconic red and yellow cards look a lot like our ketchup and mustard packets,” said Keenan White, Senior Brand Manager of Communications at Heinz US. “Combined with a truth we’ve been hearing from fans for years, that one pack is never enough, we saw the opportunity to transform one of the most recognizable symbols in sports into a fun way to celebrate every game, elevate the flavor and offer double the Heinz they love so much,” has explained.
The action is part of “Irrational Love”, the platform with which Heinz has been working on the emotional and sometimes exaggerated bond that its consumers maintain with the brand. In this case, that love is expressed in a very specific demand: more sauce, more quantity and less frustration when eating.
“In the world’s greatest sport, red and yellow are synonymous with misconduct. We wanted to turn that meaning on its head, and Heinz Penalty Packets do exactly that.”commented Simon Au, Executive Creative Director of The Kitchen. “They are the first sauce packets that allow fans to call a foul due to lack of flavor and solve it in real time with more Heinz”he added.
Heinz has been building campaigns for years based on very specific behaviors of its consumers. The brand has worked on the wait for the ketchup to come out of the bottle, the obsession with its flavor, the visual codes of its packaging or the way in which its fans incorporate the sauce into different daily rituals.
“Penalty Packets” is part of that same trend, proposing an adaptation of format and language capable of being naturally incorporated into the cultural conversation.
Football provides the context, the cards provide the code and consumer insight gives meaning to the product. The campaign thus takes advantage of a universal symbol to resolve a small consumer friction and, at the same time, reinforce Heinz’s presence at a time of high collective attention.
More info: Heinz Penalty Packs
