Heinz Ketchup walks the line between humorous and heartfelt in its first Super Bowl ad in 16 years, an extended version of which hit the web Thursday.
The spot (see it below), by Cramer-Krasselt in Chicago, is heavy on images of feel-good Americana, as police officers, campers, bridesmaids and tailgaters hum the tune to "If You're Happy and You Know It"—punctuating each line not by clapping hands but by slapping the bottom of their ketchup bottles, trying to get the ketchup out.
The ad isn't overly sentimental. Rather, it features several comic moments—including one in which a hot-dog vendor appears to end up in a full-body cast after spilling ketchup on some mobsters. And in the final scene, a grandmother looks mildly horrified after making a long farting sound while squeezing the last ketchup out of a plastic bottle.
The tagline is, "Where there's happy, it has to be Heinz." The hashtag is #ifyourehappy.
The ad (it will run as a :30; the online version is a :50) is part of a larger "Show Us Your Heinz" campaign encouraging consumers to send in photos of themselves with Heinz products. Through Feb. 23, specially marked ketchup bottles will have a QR code on the back that links to the campaign page. More than $400,000 in prizes will include five grand-prize trips to five major sporting events over the next year.