Draper’s ketchup revenge

Fifty (fictional) years ago, Don Draper, the greatest ad man who ever lived, pitched one of the greatest ketchup ads ever seen in the boardroom of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce — and it was summarily rejected.

But now, redeeming one of Draper’s few rejected pitches, which aired on the season six episode “To Have and to Hold” of Mad Men, the real life Heinz has decided to roll with the unquestionable genius of the “Pass the Heinz” pitch.

Each of Draper’s proposed ads features a shot of a mouth-watering meal, headed with the slogan “Pass the Heinz.”

“It’s simple, and it’s tantalizingly incomplete,” Draper said in his seductive pitch.

But for the fictional Heinz executives, there was one thing missing: the ketchup bottle itself, which Draper had intended to become so synonymous with the condiment, that customers wouldn’t even need to see it.

Meanwhile, Peggy Olsen pitched a competing ad that focused more on the product itself — and received a brighter reception.

But in 2017, the real life Heinz execs have caught up with Draper, though it certainly doesn’t hurt to have an award-winning TV show to help bolster the ad campaign.

“It’s so simple,” said Anselmo Ramos, chief creative officer of the product’s current agency, David Miami, to AdWeek. “Don did a great job. This is just 100 per cent on-brand positioning. It is about never settling. You look at these beautiful shots of empty fries, or a burger, and there’s something missing. And when you say ‘Pass the Heinz,’ that’s all you need to say. You don’t need to show the product.”

The ads premiered last week in New York City, and are being credited to David Miami and Draper’s fictional 1960s firm, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. For the record, Lionsgate and Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner approved the idea, while Weiner is also credited.

Each of the ads will get its own billboard in NYC and all three will run in the New York Post, with the fries to be featured in Variety.

Because even beyond the TV grave, no one can sell an ad like Don Draper.