We launched the world’s first-ever smackable, Heinz-dispensing outdoor billboard and placed it directly outside of restaurants that refuse to serve Heinz ketchup. We took one of most iconic Heinz experiences—the bottle smack—and used it to let fans get Heinz in places where it had never been served before. Our activation created a familiar yet entirely new brand experience that engaged fans and proved to restaurants that even when it’s banned, fans want their Heinz.

Nearly four out of five people (88%) prefer Heinz ketchup when eating out. But there are restaurants that refuse to serve it. McDonalds stopped serving Heinz ketchup in 2013, and restaurants like Louis Lunch (the originator of the hamburger) have outright bans on ketchup. And across Chicago, serving ketchup with a hot dog is considered a crime. But for Heinz fans, there’s nothing worse than being stuck eating without it.

Heinz is the world’s most beloved ketchup. It’s a thick, rich sauce unlike any other, which is why every ketchup fan knows, “It Has to be Heinz.”

Heinz has enormous reach and ubiquity, but there’s a minority of restaurants out there that don’t serve it. Some places serve inferior, off-brand ketchup. Others refuse to serve the red sauce altogether. In Chicago, serving ketchup on a hot dog is practically a crime. So we set out to make Heinz available at these vehemently anti-Heinz places.

Our objective was to ignite a conversation that proved to these restaurants that despite what they may believe – their customers want Heinz.

Introducing Smack for Heinz: a campaign aimed at restaurants that refuse to serve Heinz Ketchup. We leveraged the universal symbol of world's love for Heinz – the bottle smack – and turned it into a means of helping people take out their frustration while getting hands on their favorite ketchup.

We started by creating a smackable, Heinz-dispensing billboard that we could place outside restaurants that refused to serve Heinz ketchup. To find these locations, we used social listening and datamined customer reviews. Everytime a customer complained about a restaurant not serving Heinz, we found a spot to bring the board.

To scale our campaign further, we launched a digital experience allowing people to smack their phone in moments of ketchup desperation. We scaled nationally with 180 digital boards, targeting places that didn’t serve Heinz.

Every execution ensured no matter the restaurant – our fans could get their hands on Heinz.

Our target for this campaign was irrational Heinz ketchup fans. We found that nearly four out of five people (88%) prefer Heinz ketchup when eating out, but a lot of restaurants still won’t serve it. Some places serve off-brand ketchup and pretend it’s Heinz, others have banned the red condiment altogether.

We started by bringing our smackable, Heinz-dispensing board to the city most notorious for their anti-ketchup stance: Chicago. Chicago restaurants firmly believe that Heinz doesn’t belong on hot dogs, so naturally, we placed our board outside of famous Chicago hot dog spots.

We then invited people to tell us where they weren't getting Heinz and datamined customer complaints about missing ketchup on platforms like Yelp. We found a restaurant in LA with a super strict anti-ketchup policy, and another in Connecticut that kicks people out when they ask for ketchup. Every time we learned of a new Heinzless location, we brought a Heinz board to it.

But there was one name we kept hearing over and over again: McDonalds. After they stopped serving Heinz for 10 years, everyone wanted these beloved brands to come back together. So naturally, we placed our Heinz-dispensing billboard right in front of several McDonalds locations.

With the launch of Smack for Heinz, we got Heinz in restaurants that had always been a no-fly zone for the brand. We broke the rules by bringing Heinz to restaurants across Chicago, where sales had fallen 20% below the national average due to their strict ketchup norms. Grammy-nominated DJ Marshmello even performed above our board in Chicago, attracting a crowd of thousands. When we went nationwide, we targeted 180 restaurants, including Louis Lunch, the birthplace of the hamburger who famously bans ketchup. Our mobile website recorded 24K visits, where people could smack their phones for Heinz.

Though we’d ruffled feathers, our launch video performed 157% above social benchmarks and garnered a 99% positive sentiment. We’d created an explosive national conversation, with pick up by major outlets like USA Today, The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert, Fox & more. In a few short weeks, we’ve already earned 500M impressions.

Chicago is the most famous anti-ketchup city in the world. Every Chicagoan will tell you that ketchup absolutely does not belong on hot dogs – it’s practically considered a crime. As the world’s most iconic ketchup brand, Heinz couldn’t agree less. So we built a smackable, Heinz-dispensing billboard and placed it directly outside of Chicago restaurants that have banned ketchup.