Heinz Trolls Famous Chicago Hot Dog Stands By Setting Up Free Ketchup Dispensing Ads

Asking for ketchup on your hot dog in Chicago is akin to blasphemy. Chicago-style dogs are traditionally made sans-ketchup, and locals take that seriously. Beyond a side-eye, the very mention might even earn you a couple words of disapproval.

Heinz has decided to step up for Chicagoans who do enjoy ketchup. Outside of anti-ketchup restaurants throughout the city, the brand has set up billboards that dispense ketchup packets. The “Smack for Heinz” campaign is quite possibly the greatest troll of an entire city ever.

“One of the most consistent ways Heinz fans show their irrational love for our ketchup is their utter devastation and frustration when a restaurant doesn’t offer it,” Lizzy Goodman, brand communications manager at Heinz, said in a statement.

The pop-up billboards are designed by agency ReThink and will be located next to the Wieners Circle and by the McDonald’s at Navy Pier. Each billboard features a smackable ketchup dispenser. Ten years ago, McDonald’s ended its 40-year partnership with Heinz.

This is the second time Heinz has trolled snooty Chicagoans. In 2017, the company released a Chicago Dog Sauce, which was in reality just plain ol’ ketchup.

“The bottle smack is a universal symbol of the world’s love for Heinz. Knowing that there are restaurants all over the world that refuse to serve Heinz, we turned the Heinz smack into a way of helping people let out their frustration, and get the ketchup they want,” said Geoff Baillie, creative director at ReThink.