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Ask an AI to draw ketchup

  • Heinz
  • Global
  • 2022
  • 2 min
  • Made for Instagram

An AI was asked to draw ketchup. See what it drew.

A bottle of Heinz tomato ketchup, front view
Photo: Chris Woodrich, public domain, Wikimedia Commons
tan.aiCampaign teardown
  1. A Heinz case study. Ask an AI to draw ketchup. It draws Heinz. Heinz noticed.
  2. The setup. In 2022, Heinz and the agency Rethink typed "ketchup" into DALL-E 2, an image AI most people couldn't use yet. The pictures kept coming back looking like a Heinz bottle.
  3. The product made the claim. Heinz didn't say it was the ketchup. A machine did. Then fans sent weirder prompts, like a ketchup tarot card. Still Heinz.
  4. Why it worked. The claim came from a source that looked neutral. Fans wrote the prompts, so fans shared the results. It was early. Everyone wanted to try AI art.
  5. The receipts. 1.15B earned impressions. +2,500% earned media value vs. media spend. +38% engagement vs. past Heinz social. Source: Cannes Lions 2023 entry.
  6. Copy this. If your product is the default, let people find that out themselves. A test anyone can repeat beats a claim nobody can check.
  7. That's it. Heinz didn't say it. It let a machine say it, then let fans check. That second step is the clever part.

tan.ai Heinz didn't say it was the ketchup. A machine did. Swipe →

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Why I picked it: It is a usability test applied to a brand. They asked a neutral tester and published the result.

What I'd test: Would it work for a brand that is not already the default? Probably not.

Where I use this: Let the data make the claim, and simply present it.

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My notes (3)
  • Why I picked it: It is a usability test applied to a brand. They asked a neutral tester and published the result.
  • What I'd test: Would it work for a brand that is not already the default? Probably not.
  • Where I use this: Let the data make the claim, and simply present it.

All seven slides

Written for Instagram. Seven slides, one idea.

Photos: Chris Woodrich (public domain) and Visitor7 (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wikimedia Commons. Numbers: Heinz A.I. Ketchup entry, Cannes Lions 2023.

The receipt

One prompt, itemised.

RECEIPT · HEINZ A.I. KETCHUP

PROMPT
"KETCHUP"
AI OUTPUT
HEINZ
EARNED IMPRESSIONS
1.15B
EARNED VS. SPEND
+2,500%
ENGAGEMENT VS. PAST
+38%
CLAIMS MADE BY HEINZ
0

SOURCE: CANNES LIONS 2023 ENTRY

RECEIPT · HEINZ A.I. KETCHUP SOURCE: CANNES LIONS 2023 ENTRY TAPto print

RECEIPT · HEINZ A.I. KETCHUP

PROMPT
"KETCHUP"
AI OUTPUT
HEINZ
EARNED IMPRESSIONS
1.15B
EARNED VS. SPEND
+2,500%
ENGAGEMENT VS. PAST
+38%
CLAIMS MADE BY HEINZ
0

SOURCE: CANNES LIONS 2023 ENTRY

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