In the 2013 Season 6 episode “To Have and to Hold”, of the popular Mad Men television series, fictional character Don Draper pitches an advertising campaign to Heinz. Don’s bold idea for the ads was to not show the actual product – Heinz’ tomato ketchup, but to instead display appetizing foods that paired up nicely with ketchup, with the slogan, “Pass the Heinz.” Don explains, “The greatest thing you have working for you is not the photo you take or the picture you paint, it’s the imagination of the consumer. They have no budget, they have no time limit, and if you can get in that space you can run it all day” (Levy et al., 2013). Though the fictional Heinz executives end up passing on this innovative idea, the real Heinz team in 2017 ran the ad campaign to phenomenal success. Though there are three advertisements in the campaign, the focus of this essay is on analyzing the ad featuring a delectable heap of golden-brown French fries. By dissecting the novel use of absence in the ad, along with context, purpose, colors, and arrangement, we can create a formidable roadmap for both retaining and expanding market share.
Without much context, and at first glance, the ad appears to have targeted anyone that’s a fan of French fries – a fairly universal set. A deeper dive into Heinz’ marketing practices over the last several decades reveals that the main target demographic was in fact female shoppers between the ages of 25 and 55 – who statistically do most of the grocery shopping, and children – who just love ketchup (Holmes, 2011). Fans of Mad Men were also the audience for the ad – especially those that would find this fiction-to-reality cross-over a clever and social-media noteworthy event. The buzz generated by the approximately two million nostalgic viewers (the series had concluded two years prior in 2015) provided quite a bit of free media attention as well (Stone, 2017).
The most important context at first glance appears to be the French fries, which is what our eyes gravitate towards. We might initially assume that the ad is related to a fast-food restaurant, but it isn’t until we read the text that rather plainly states “Pass the Heinz,” that we begin to understand that the white space in fact represents the missing piece of the puzzle - Heinz ketchup. How could we have fries without ketchup? It just doesn’t feel right. Fries and ketchup are on par with other perfect combinations such as peanut butter and jelly or spaghetti and meatballs. Heinz does in fact produce other sauces and condiments including mustard, mayonnaise, and relish, but none of those pop into our brains. Where is that bright red bottle of sweet and tangy ketchup? The ad is incredibly effective because of the absence of the obvious. Once we comprehend the ad, we feel the travesty of being served fries without ketchup. The cleverness of the absence stays with us for more than a fleeting moment and perhaps even throughout the day.
The purpose of the ad is apparent – to entice yet mystify and entertain the audience. Placing a ketchup bottle in the photo almost seems pedestrian. Would that not be similar to every other ad that we’re bombarded with? The ad makes us take a second and third glance, and chuckle at the inventiveness. In fact, the next time we reach for fries and dip it into ketchup, we may end up asking our companions whether they had seen the ad and share its ingenuity.
The arrangement of the fries appears to signify bountifulness. Our eyes are drawn to the beckoning heap. The glistening of the fries makes it appear as if they were just pulled from the frier. All that’s missing is the steam. The crinkle cut has a more appealing look than straight fries, adding a textured nuance. If the image of the fries is the focus, the text is the icing on the cake. The three simple words “Pass The Heinz,” evoke emotions of first confusion, then eureka, and finally joy. The diminutive scale ironically speaks the loudest. This is an excellent example of the phrase, “less is more”. There’s no question of the missing element.
The colors enhance the overall message. The shades of orange evoke the sun. Fire and heat are words that come to mind. Sports teams often use orange in their branding to signify dynamism – which helps to explain the palpable energy in the ad. The Dali Lama wears orange “radiating goodness and peace” – which are characteristics that shine in this ad’s imagery (Cherry, 2021). The white space is significant in that once we comprehend what’s missing, we might imagine a dollop of bright red ketchup somewhere in that space. Whitespace or negative space is associated with sophistication, which is certainly the case with this image. Fries alone may be fairly mundane, but the whitespace and message add a flavor of mystery. Whitespace can help with balance, but in this case, it’s the imbalance that makes the ad so effective (Importance White Space, 2020).
An in-depth analysis of the Heinz advertisement demonstrates that the absence of the product that is being sold can be an incredibly effective marketing scheme. With a 4540% Return on Investment (ROI), this ad was the first ever remarkably successful “reversed product placement” in history (Pass Heinz, n.d.). In addition to ingenuity and out-of-the-box thinking, advertising teams must deep-dive into every aspect of imagery – context, arrangement, colors, and purpose – in order to create an effective campaign that will both entertain their target audience and most importantly drive revenue.
References
Cherry, K. (2021, June 20). How Does Orange Influence Your Moods? Verywell Mind.
Holmes, P. (2011, May 06). 140th Anniversary Of The Iconic Heinz Tomato Ketchup. PRovoke Media.
Levy, E. (Writer) & Uppendahl M. (Director). (2013, April 21). To Have and to Hold (Season 6, Episode 4) [TV series episode]. In M. Weiner, S. Hornbacher, A. Jacquemetton, M. Jacquemetton, J. Leahy (Executive Producers), Mad Men. American Movie Classics Company.
Pass The Heinz. (n.d.). COMMB (Canadian Out of Home Marketing and Measurement Bureau).
Stone, A. (2017, March 2017). Heinz Serves Up Ad Fictions as Ad Fact. Textifying – Trends & Issues in Public Relations.
The Importance of White Space in Advertising. (2020, April 10). Denver Digital.