In an attempt to flag up the fact that today (Wednesday, July 13) is National Fries Day and that tomato ketchup is probably the nation's favourite chip accompaniment, the sauce manufacturer Heinz has gone all-out to cram in as many puns as possible in their marketing literature.
Following a very public spat with Tesco over its policy on pricing that was finally settled this week, the brand is attempting to return to public favour by launching a spoon-shaped French fry – so that you can scoop up more sauce than the traditional skinny chip might allow.
So the company's publicity machine has come out with all guns blazing to shout: "FRIES-TRATION: HEINZ UNVEILS SAUCE SOLUTION. SPOON FRIEZ – FRY-NALLY ALLOWING FANS TO GET A DECENT DOLLOP THIS NATIONAL FRIES DAY."
It claims: "Being the universal treat they are, each culture has its own take on the (French fry) recipe. However, what isn’t up for debate is that French Fries without sauce is a big no-no. According to a global study commissioned by condiment connoisseurs Heinz, 95 per cent of us simply refuse to eat one without the other.
"With so much significance placed on sauce, it comes as no surprise that 84 per cent of sauce superfans are often left feeling ‘fries-trated’, never being able to achieve a decent dollop of sauce they desire on a single fry.
"With a whopping 4.5 billion French Fries eaten every single year worldwide, Heinz plans to put an end to sauce-suffering this National Fries Day (13th July), by unveiling a new solution, dubbed Heinz Spoon Friez.
"Made out of potato and resembling the same shape of a traditional spoon, the potato bowl head will fry-nally let sauce superfans enjoy the perfect amount of Heinz Tomato Ketchup.
Jenina Carroll-Goldin, marketing manager at Heinz, said: “With French Fries a common accompaniment to many dishes, it only seemed right that we explored a solution in time for the sociable summer season. We’re confident that the condiment concept will have a soft spot in many hungry hearts.”
The research was conducted by Opinium among 2,000 adults in the UK, Germany, France, China, India, Turkey, Australia, and USA – an average of 250 people in each country.
The publicity ends with an announcement that for those wanting to try the condiment concept, "Heinz is launching a competition on Heinz to Home for fry fans, open from 6am on Wednesday 13th July," although it did not provide any further details.
