Burger and french fry connoisseurs know: There is only one true tomato ketchup. (Fun fact: Heinz is called "tomato ketchup" because the word ketchup actually refers to a paste with a certain consistency. Ketchup can be made from lots of things, including fruits like bananas, blueberries, and cherries!)
But that doesn't stop many restaurants looking to save a buck from trying to pull the old switcharoo: filling up empty Heinz bottles with cheap off-brand ketchup.Spoiler alert: Diners HATE this. People who like ketchup tend to be extremely passionate about it, and don't take kindly to being duped. So Heinz decided to do something about it with a brilliant and barely noticeable tweak to their label design.
A new Heinz label being tested in Turkey includes a red border that exactly matches the color of Heinz ketchup — easily exposing impostors
VML Turkey
VML, a global marketing agency, came up with the award-winning design. The end result was deliciously simple and brilliant.
In the old design, the Heinz label had a simple white border. Heinz and VML simply "identified the exact red color of Heinz Tomato Ketchup using the world's universal Pantone color scale and simply added this Pantone Red stripe to the Heinz Tomato Ketchup label," according to the agency's official case study.
Additional text at the bottom of the label reads "Is that Heinz? Check with the color of the label."
For foodies outside of Turkey, Heinz also launched an Instagram filter that allows you to easily compare the ketchup on your table to the true red to check for authenticity.
Ketchup enthusiasts are big fans of the change.
Though the campaign initially launched in 2023, the new label continues to get buzz.
Facebook user Man Behaving Dadly shared the photos with his audience, to the tune of over 3,000 comments and 14,000 shares.
For the most part, people are pumped.
YogaDiva MT wrote: I eat HEINZ ketchup only and I can tell the difference when I taste some off brand version.
Cheryl Jenkins joked: Don’t need a sticker we know when we taste it
Kate Mays said: I too, hate when they do that. Heinz forever
Thom Cousens brought up an important point: I've eaten in cafes and seen the staff "top up" Heinz bottles with value stuff. Dangerous game to play if there's allergens in one but not the other.
To be fair, plenty of users chimed in to add that they couldn't care less about ketchup brands — and some even claimed to dislike Heinz.
But the point isn't necessarily that Heinz is objectively the best ketchup on the planet. It's that diners shouldn't be deceived so restaurants can save a buck.
It's an annoying time to be a consumer of, well, anything. But especially at restaurants.
While the Heinz label campaign was concepted and rolled out in Turkey, initially, we sure could use it here in the US..
Because the numbers don't lie. People are eating out less and less.
The price of a meal out has skyrocketed and, at least anecdotally, quality has gone way down to boot. It's hard to measure for sure whether restaurants (especially corporate chains) are using lower quality ingredients, but it sure feels like it.
Service has also become a problem. Despite prices going up, servers and kitchen staff are still way underpaid, which makes it hard for establishments to attract good people.
In short, going out to eat just kind of... sucks. More and more people aren't finding the experience to be worth it, and when we do decide to open up our wallets and get served some cheapo replacement ketchup, it can feel like the last straw!
Running a restaurant is tough sledding, especially for small businesses. It can be challenging to keep the lights on in this economy.
But, please, we're begging you. At least give us good food, a fun experience, and real ketchup.