Did Heinz really "ketchup" or are they too late?
In a recent article from USA today, Heinz ketchup is ridiculed for their newsest switch in their bottle labels. For generations, Heinz has had a gherkin pickle on the front of their ketchup bottle. The company was originally called Anchor Pickle and Vinegar Works. They developed their variety of products over the years and discovered that they had well over 57 different types of varying flavors and recipes.
Mr. John Heinz concluded that there was something about the number 57 that struck him as interesting and he thought that his consumers would also possibly be attracted to this number. (These facts are according to Wikipedia search engine).
Critics are saying that because the Heinz company has now conformed to other ketchup bottle labels and added a tomato to their label, that they are now too "common". Heinz is classically known as America's #1 ketchup, but with its new look, consumers may wonder what makes it different than the cheaper version that sits beside it on the supermarket counter. In a way the company is ridding their originality and historic significance. the director of Heinz ketchup, Noel Geoffroy, admits that although the consumer plea to hold on to the "pickled" label is "flattering", the tomato will remain as the new photographic symbol on ketchup bottles.
