Heinz recently launched its LTO “Heinz Chip Dip” across North America as part of its “potato, potahto” campaign, which plays on the common practice of dipping french fries in ketchup and Canada’s love of ketchup chips.
According to Heinz’s research, conducted with Talker Research last month of 1,000 Canadians, more than half keep ketchup chips stocked in their kitchens, 68% agree that markets without the combo are seriously missing out and 87% have tried the flavour mashup.
“When we saw consumers debate on whether or not chips should be dipped in ketchup, we knew we needed to take a stand,” Brian Neumann, head of brand communications for Kraft Heinz Canada, said in a release. “Chip Dip gives us the opportunity to set the record straight and celebrate the irrational love our fans have for Heinz.”
The latest LTO is an extension of the “It Has to Be Heinz” platform and landed just ahead of National Potato Day (March 14). The “Chip Dip” features a bottle of Heinz ketchup with a wide-mouthed glass jar for dipping and is available on Walmart’s website. Heinz adds that the “Chip Dip” serves as a “test-and-learn” concept as the brand considers making it a permanent addition to its portfolio.
The brand is also encouraging fans who try the potato chip and ketchup combo to share their feedback on social media.
The campaign is being supported with paid social on Instagram and TikTok, OLV on YouTube and OOH in select markets.
The “Chip Dip” campaign and production were developed by Rethink, with social media support from The Kitchen, Zeno Group on PR and paid media support from Carat.
“The challenge was to get people to think differently about a sauce they’ve known for decades,” Nick Noh and Jordan Darnbrough, associate creative directors at Rethink, said in a press release. “Heinz Ketchup is so ingrained in culture as the perfect pairing for certain foods, but not for others. Take fries, for example. Fries and ketchup make perfect sense, but not chips, even though they’re both fried potatoes. This campaign highlights a simple truth: ketchup and potatoes are made for each other, no matter the shape.”
The latest campaign came a month after Kraft Heinz unveiled a spot during Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, which was filmed at its Mont-Royal factory in Quebec, to highlight that its brands are “made by Canadians. For Canadians.”
The creative came shortly on the heels of comments made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging consumers to seek out Canadian-made products, in which the PM referenced brand-switching from Heinz Ketchup to McCormick’s French’s, after the former’s Leamington, Ont., exit in 2015.
Trudeau’s comments were in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war with Canada, in which he started threatening 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods and 10% on Canadian energy at the beginning of February.
Kraft Heinz tersely responded to Trudeau, saying that with the exception of the five years from that time to 2020, it has made Heinz Ketchup in Canada for more than a century and that it was “resolute in our decision to bring the production of Heinz Ketchup back to Canada in 2020.”
