2025 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Heinz Ketchup is known around the world for being the definitive Ketchup. It’s the original and has been for over 150 years. But being as big and as old as Heinz has its own set of challenges – specifically when it comes to finding new ways to maintain relevance, brand love, and staying top of mind.

They were tasked with creating a campaign that would put Heinz at the heart of the summer conversation. Not only is summer a critical period for condiment sales, but it’s cluttered with brands who want to win the season. To keep Heinz top of mind, they needed to show up in a fresh, unexpected way.

The goal was to create a buzzworthy moment that reinforced Heinz's iconic status while showcasing the brand as a relevant, fresh, and unignorable part
of today’s culture.

As summer 2024 approached, one movie was already stealing the spotlight: Deadpool & Wolverine. Set to be the season's biggest blockbuster, fans were eagerly counting down to its release, dissecting each trailer, and speculating on every possible Easter egg online.

That’s when it hit them: Deadpool and Wolverine’s iconic red and yellow costumes looked just like Heinz Ketchup and Mustard. Movie fans had already picked up on the similarity, creating UGC and online content about it. The agency had an opportunity to turn summer’s biggest movie into one big ad for Heinz.

Introducing "Can't Unsee It," an integrated campaign aimed at making sure no one can see Deadpool & Wolverine without instantly thinking of Heinz ketchup & mustard. This campaign was made possible through a close-knit partnership between Heinz, Marvel, Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort, and the media and PR partners. From the earliest brainstorming sessions to final execution, every detail was crafted collaboratively to create an integrated and impactful experience.

They didn’t just make a traditional ad. It launched with what appeared to be a new trailer for the movie, until bottles of Heinz ketchup & mustard started flashing on screen in split-second blips.

Ryan Reynolds, in an original voiceover, freeze frames over the Heinz bottles, realizing that even he can't unsee the comparison. The creative synergy between Maximum Effort, Marvel, and Heinz teams ensured the content felt authentic to the film’s universe.

Then, they targeted Marvel's out-of-home campaign in NY, LA, Toronto and Vancouver with assets replace the iconic movie characters with Heinz ketchup & mustard bottles with a simple message: “You Can’t Unsee It”– making sure no one could see summer’s biggest movie without thinking of Heinz.

The agency then launched pre-movie ads that flashed ketchup and mustards to make sure no one could unsee it. They even gave free ketchup & mustard bottles to fans if they were able to snap a pic of our bottles on screen in theatres to further capture their attention.

When the movie launched for streaming on Disney+ the brand was there too – with the “Now You Can't Unsee It” messaging running before people watched the film. They even included a promotion with Instacart in the ads that gave hungry viewers a discount to get ketchup and mustard sent straight to their home while they
watched the film.

Heinz even made limited-edition collectibles that let fans accessorize their ketchup and mustard bottles to resemble Deadpool and Wolverine. Created in collaboration with the film, the collectibles include Deadpool’s signature mask, suit, and most importantly, katanas, made specifically for Heinz ketchup bottles.

For the mustard lovers, their bottles will feature Wolverine’s iconic claws, suit, mask.

With the “Can’t Unsee It” message, they turned Deadpool fans into Heinz fans. They even began dressing as Heinz ketchup & mustard to the movie premiere in New York and at Comic Con in San Diego, a cultural moment only made possible through dynamic partnership.

Through trust and collaboration, they didn’t just connect Heinz to a blockbuster franchise; they made the brand part of the story.

The campaign was an overnight success, driving 1 billion impressions and the engagement rate for the trailer on Heinz Meta was 789% – placing Heinz at the heart of the summer 2024 conversation. It also garnered 100% positive/neutral sentiment in PR.

During this critical condiment sales season, the work drove a 2.9% increase in sales for Ketchup and an 8.5% increase in sales for Mustard. Heinz mustard dollar share also increased by 12%.

By showing up unexpectedly, they successfully broke through the summer clutter, outperforming other major DP&W partnerships – including Adidas, Aviation Gin, Xbox and Old Spice.

The agency turned the biggest R-rated movie in history, into an unforgettable summer Heinz ad that nobody could unsee.

Credits

CCO: Aaron Starkman, Mike Dubrick, Daniel Lobatón
CSO: Sean McDonald
ECD: Xavier Blais, Tara Lawall
CD: Zachary Bautista, Geoff Baillie
Writer: Geoff Baillie
AD: Zachary Bautista, Rachel LeBlanc, Ryan Cookish, Dan Cantelon
Strategist: Julian Morgan, Emma Bayfield
Director of Broadcast: Shelby Spigelman
Director of Integrated Content: Todd Harrison
Director of Integrated Production: AJ Merrick
Integrated Producer: Kyle Hicks, Kelsey Irvine, Kate A. Spencer, Meg Norton, Venus Pun, Keegan Shay
Broadcast Producer: Alex Butt
Studio: Todd Bennett, Jonathan Cesar, Patrick Kennedy, Kostas Loukopoulos
Post Production Supervisor: Shannon Ing
Editor: Thais Maranho, Leigh O'Neill, Nick Greaves, Ignacio Florez, Tyler Erdelac
Group Business Lead: Adam Ball
Accounts: Kai de Bruyn Kops, David Greisman, Rachel Cloth, Olivia Yang, Bhumika Baweja
On-Site Photographer: Jon Simo, Poupay Jutharat, Maria Jose Govea
PR: Zeno Group, Missy Maher, Courtney Pischke, Jamie Dammrich, Alysa Winkler, Bethany Roth, Nicolette Stern
Media: Carat Canada, Marlee Camacho, Taha Hameedi, Isabella Oliveros, Robby Sawicki, Abhishek Mehta, Atakan Demir, Neander Martins
Media: Carat US, Nicole Tarazona, Micahya Byrd, Elizabeth Schuler, Jourdan Daroff, Heather Weidman, Morgan Ray, Lucia Fornaroli, Gianine Hall, Ethan Beller
Marvel Studios Partnerships: Lylle Breier, Holly Frank, Ty Ervin, A.J. Fierro, Andrew Staub, Caroline Hogan, Britney Asao, Ariana Vallenilla
Kraft Heinz: Lizzy Goodman, Keenan White, Brian Neumann, Julia Adams, Jamie Mack, Navjit Dhillon, Alexandra Lieberman, Jenna Thornton, Molly Kelsey, Jacqueline Chao, Megan Lang