People have strong feelings when it comes to their food preferences — deep dish versus thin crust, “hero” versus “hoagie.” And nothing is more heavily debated than America’s quirky food combinations, like fries dipped in milkshakes and ranch dressing on pizza.

With the debut of the new Heinz Mayonnaise, we knew we’d get Americans talking if we awakened a food debate on social. And they would be discussing a completely different product — Mayochup, Heinz’s unexpected and controversial combination of ketchup and mayonnaise.

We took to Twitter and asked Americans if they’d like to see the combination of Heinz Ketchup and Heinz Mayonnaise in one saucy bottle. Leveraging Twitter’s interactive poll, this one simple question ignited the social world and created Mayochup mayhem.

And that’s how a company known for its ketchup became known for its mayo as well. Because after all, you can’t have Heinz Mayochup without Heinz Mayonnaise.

The Mayochup mayhem began on April 11 with a simple Twitter poll to Heinz followers: “Want #mayochup in stores? 500,000 votes for ‘yes’ and we’ll release it to you saucy Americans.” Within 48 hours, Heinz received nearly 1 million votes: 500,000 said “pass the mayochup” and 450,000 said “nah, I’ll make my own.” Thousands also chimed in on what it should be called. Jimmy Kimmel talked about Mayochup in his opening monologue and Carson Daily weighed in on naming options. Even Ellen was in-the-know. Throughout social media and beyond, you couldn’t avoid Mayochup.

We mined real-time social conversation and responded to fans with witty copy, custom images and coupons for Heinz Mayonnaise. Even though Mayochup won’t be available for purchase until later this year, these responses encouraged fans to make their own by combining their beloved Heinz Ketchup with the new Heinz Mayonnaise.

The launch of Heinz Mayonnaise was the most effective product launch in Heinz history.

Our simple Twitter question about Mayo and Ketchup grew to generate a total of 2.28 billion impressions – including 1.97 billion online impressions, 299 million social impressions and 13.7 million broadcast impressions. Our efforts resulted in 1,245 total media placements -- 373 online, 423 social, and 449 broadcast. We received the highest response rate in Twitter poll history with nearly 1 million people weighing in.

Heinz experienced a remarkable 27 percent lift in awareness of Heinz Mayonnaise, and 28 percent of respondents recalled seeing the Mayochup activation. The majority of respondents who recalled the activation attributed it to Heinz, with only 7 percent misattributing it to another brand. One in four of those who recalled Mayochup talked about it with friends, a true testament to the social power behind the Heinz Mayonnaise product launch.