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Heinz launches ‘The Wait’ in homage to sauce superfans willing to wait for Heinz Tomato Ketchup.
Heinz, one of the world’s most loved condiment brands, has kicked-off a global campaign celebrating diners around the world who are willing to wait irrational lengths of time for their ketchup.
The campaign, launching across the USA, Canada, UK, Chile, France, UAE, and Brazil, is inspired by research finding that more than two-thirds of surveyed diners admit they’d rather wait to eat than go without ketchup – even if it means a cold meal – with more than half of people surveyed (55%) willing to wait even longer for Heinz.
Of these Heinz ketchup lovers, one-third say that three minutes is their maximum wait time, while nearly 20% confess they are willing to wait up to ten minutes for their condiments before digging in.
‘The Wait’ was created in partnership with Chilean creative agency 1984 and depicts hungry diners who have all but one key ingredient that prevents them from getting stuck in: their beloved Heinz Tomato Ketchup. The tagline reads: "If you are willing to wait, it has to be Heinz."
‘The Wait’ forms part of the brand’s global brand platform “It Has to be HEINZ”, launched in June 2023 to celebrate the irrational love people everywhere have for Heinz.
George Buneder, CMO for The Kraft Heinz Company, Hispanics explains: “Nothing says ‘true love waits’ like a hungry diner willing to hold off eating until their ketchup arrives. It’s this simple, yet very real insight that inspired our latest campaign ‘The Wait’. By observing real behaviours and turning insights into entertainment, we’re able to celebrate the wonderful, sometimes irrational love our fans have for Heinz. Ironically, the absence of a Heinz Tomato Ketchup Bottle is what makes the ad stand out, making Heinz the absent hero of our own story.”
Felipe Manalich, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of 1984, adds: “We’ve become impatient consumers, and in an era where we want everything fast, waiting is actually an act of love. The idea started with a simple observation: in a restaurant, people wait to be seated, they wait to be attended, they wait for their meal to arrive; to keep waiting. Why do they wait? We did the research and Heinz was the answer.”
The campaign will be supported through a range of activations, including film, print, digital and OOH, with the aim of dramatizing the ‘Wait’ by buying media in moments and environments where consumers are already waiting for sauce.
