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#FindTheKetchupBoatGuy
Agency The Kitchen North America / Toronto + Kraft Heinz / Chicago + Publicis 57 / Chicago + Zeno Group / Chicago
Category
Social Media Post / Single
Annual ID
OS24_DM072M
About the Work
In January 2023, Heinz heard about Elvis Francois – the sailor who survived 24 days at sea on a bottle of ketchup – we knew we had to reward his bravery with a new boat. But after reaching out to his home nation of Dominica and his rescuers at the Colombian Navy, there was just one problem...we couldn’t find him.
After exhausting our leads to find and reward Elvis Francois, we put out an SOS on social media. Targeting armchair internet detectives and our worldwide Heinz community, we leveraged a powerful CTA in the form of the hashtag #FindTheKetchupBoatGuy to rally the world to help Heinz find Elvis Francois.
On February 14, 2023 Heinz posted a message in a Heinz bottle to the Heinz US Instagram account asking the world to help us #FindTheKetchupBoatGuy.
● Leads flooded in over two weeks
● We released updates on the Heinz US Instagram page
● We exchanged leads in private internet sleuth group chats
● Posters went up around the Caribbean
● Heinz fans offered to fly to Dominica to find Elvis
● Every major international news outlet covered our global manhunt
●On February 27, 2023, the global manhunt finally ended when we announced to the world that Elvis Francois had been found
A happy ending to Elvis Francois’ incredible story, only made possible because the world worked together to help Heinz #FindTheKetchupBoatGuy. Our message in a bottle resulted in thousands of messages, shares, likes, and headlines across six continents.
● 3.7 Billion+ earned media impressions (The most ever for a Heinz campaign)
● 2500+ international press headlines
● Coverage in CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, USA Today, The Toronto Star, NPR, The Drew Barrymore Show, Good Morning America, Today, and many more.
● Budget: Cost of one boat
● 100% Sentiment Score
After exhausting our leads to find and reward Elvis Francois, we put out an SOS on social media. Targeting armchair internet detectives and our worldwide Heinz community, we leveraged a powerful CTA in the form of the hashtag #FindTheKetchupBoatGuy to rally the world to help Heinz find Elvis Francois.
On February 14, 2023 Heinz posted a message in a Heinz bottle to the Heinz US Instagram account asking the world to help us #FindTheKetchupBoatGuy.
● Leads flooded in over two weeks
● We released updates on the Heinz US Instagram page
● We exchanged leads in private internet sleuth group chats
● Posters went up around the Caribbean
● Heinz fans offered to fly to Dominica to find Elvis
● Every major international news outlet covered our global manhunt
●On February 27, 2023, the global manhunt finally ended when we announced to the world that Elvis Francois had been found
A happy ending to Elvis Francois’ incredible story, only made possible because the world worked together to help Heinz #FindTheKetchupBoatGuy. Our message in a bottle resulted in thousands of messages, shares, likes, and headlines across six continents.
● 3.7 Billion+ earned media impressions (The most ever for a Heinz campaign)
● 2500+ international press headlines
● Coverage in CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, USA Today, The Toronto Star, NPR, The Drew Barrymore Show, Good Morning America, Today, and many more.
● Budget: Cost of one boat
● 100% Sentiment Score
2024 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
Brand-Side / In-House Agency
The Kitchen North America / Toronto
Media Agency
Publicis 57 / Chicago
PR / Marketing Agency
Zeno Group / Chicago
Client / Brand
Kraft Heinz / Chicago
Art Director
Arman Sadrzadeh
Copywriter
Sean Kinton
Creative Director
Daniel Szczepanek
Editor
Mariana Urrutia
Executive Creative Director
Simon Au
Graphic Designer
Crystal Huang
Motion Designer
Branson Schell
Social Media Manager
Vanessa Mahon
Head of Strategy
Kathleen Bokar
Senior Producer
Jan Parma
Account Executive
Prestan Tilley
Account Supervisor
Marco Cianfagna
Account Supervisor, Consumer
Bethany Stokoski
Associate Director
Amina Ahmed
Brand Manager
Alyssa Cicero
Director of External Communications & PR, North American Brands
Jenna Thornton
Group Account Director
Annie-Rose Mears
Head / VP of North America, Brand Communications
Nina Patel
Head of Brand Communications - Heinz & Kraft Enhancers, North America
Megan Lang
Head of Integrated. Communications
Missy Maher
Head of Production & Operations
Julie Benevides
Head of The Kitchen North America
Tom Evans
Integrated Producer
Nadine Farhat
Manager, North American Brand PR &. Media Relations
Alexandra Lieberman
Media Supervisor
Brittany Foster
Devin Bober
Senior Account Executive
Nicolette Stern
Senior Associate
Kayley Carey
Senior Brand Manager
Jacqueline Chao
Senior Performance Analyst
Alex Broome
SVP, Consumer
Jamie Dammrich
SVP, Media Strategy
Courtney Pischke
VP Consumer
Alysa Winkler
VP Director
Emily Jacobson
VP, Brands & Creativity
Jess Vultaggio
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