The New Heinz Ad: Creative or Racist?

And what you need to know about The Kraft Heinz Company

Update: Heinz has apologized and pulled the ad, according to AdAge.

Note: This conversation started within the advertising community on LinkedIn.

Here we are in 2024, with an ad from Heinz as a creative nod to Halloween and/or the new film Joker: Folie à Deux that we need to honestly decide whether we think it’s fun creative or Blackface… *sigh* we just wanna eat non-racist ketchup.

So here goes. In this specific ad campaign, created by Gut New York, the depiction of a Black person with a ketchup ‘smile’ dangerously echoes the painful history of Blackface and minstrel shows, where Black people were dehumanized and ridiculed through exaggerated, racist caricatures.

Noting, the campaign also featured non-Black people:

The line seems to be blurry for folks and we got questions:

• Are they truly unaware, or are they relying on shock value to push their campaign? 

• Did anyone consider the cultural implications of this ad?

• Why do companies repeatedly fail to recognize the weight of these images in their marketing?

• What does this say about the diversity of perspectives in Heinz's creative and/or agency teams?

Now of course I had to do a little independent research and what’s crazy is that while looking into this campaign, I stumbled upon THIS Heinz campaign that’s concurrently catching heat in London.

Source: Independent

The ad in question features a white groom and his mother and father, with a Black bride and just her mother.

But back to my research about what Black people and allies should know about Kraft Heinz:

• Black Executive Leadership: 0 out of 10 or 0% (noting there are other POC); In 2022 they reported that 10% of their EL team was Black, down from 18% in 2020.

• Black Board Members: 2 out of 10 or 20%

• Total Black Workforce: 20.3%

• Black Managers First/Mid-Level Officials and Managers: 7.5%

• Black Executive/Senior Level Officials: 2.5% (1 out of 39)

Source: The Kraft Heinz Company 2023 ESG Report

• Black-centered Recruiting:

  Recruiting Inclusive recruiting is a key focus for us. As We dare to do better every day, a diverse workforce can help lead to increased innovation, productivity, and profitability. As such, we continue to review our partnerships to provide a welcoming and inclusive workplace for all. In 2022, we added and enhanced partnerships with the following organizations as examples:

  Sister Circle: Black Women in Tech: A solidarity group dedicated to supporting the work of Black Women in the technology industry from across the diaspora.

  10,000 Interns Foundation: Provides paid internships for Black students and graduates through the 10,000 Black Interns program, and paid internships for disabled students and graduates of all ethnicities through the 10,000 Able Interns program across a range of U.K. industries.

• Black-Centered Community Initatives:

  Heinz continues partnership with The LEE Initiative to Help Preserve Black-Owned Restaurants’ Cultural Legacy The Heinz Black Kitchen Initiative, a partnership with The LEE Initiative and Southern Restaurants for Racial Justice (SRRJ), began in 2021 with the ambition to celebrate, uplift, and preserve the legacy of Black food by breaking down the barriers that keep Black voices and cooking out of the American culinary pantheon through a grant program for Black food business entrepreneurs. To further celebrate these voices, we also launched the award-winning Black Kitchen Series podcast, which spotlights Black culinary innovators and the many ways Black individuals are moving the culinary space forward. In 2022, Heinz continued this vibrant partnership resulting in more than 65 restaurants across the U.S. receiving grants from the Black Kitchen Initiative and bringing the brand’s total grant contribution so far to $2 million, with plans to continue expanding this program in 2023.

• Supplier Diversity: While exact data around Black suppliers is not provided, we know that Kraft Heinz launced their supplier diversity program in 2021/2022 as well as provides supplier development. They reported the following that does impact Black suppliers:

  In 2022, we expanded our external outreach in the U.S. by joining the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC).

Worth noting, is their “Responsible Marketing” mandate, which focuses on safety for children:

Now that you know more about their DEI and Community Initiatives, here’s a creative tweak they could have done to avoid the backlash:

If it indeed is a Halloween campaign (with a subtle nod to the Joker), simply diversify the creative, so that the Black model’s ketchup didn’t come off as Blackface. Maybe a vampire?

Overall, these campaigns cost A LOT of money and go through A LOT of rounds of ideation, refinement, and approval. Considering the sensitivity around the historical reference, it’s surprising they got here, whether well-intended or not.

But what is clear: we need more Black History in classrooms (meanwhile, they’re banning it across the US), more Black people at the corporate and agency tables, and more focus groups with Black consumers.

And again, I leave you with this, Be informed, Not Influenced. What do you think?

For brands that need help, I’m here to consult to avoid these cultural missteps — connect with me on LinkedIn!

For the Equity,

Kelle

Sources:

• Kraft Heinz 2023 EEO-1

• Kraft Heinz 2023 Impact Report