Heinz's 'Smiles' campaign painted mouths in ketchup — critics saw minstrelsy

In October 2024, Heinz and agency Gut New York released 'Smiles,' a campaign timed to Joker: Folie à Deux, showing models smiling with Heinz ketchup smeared on and around their lips in a style resembling the film's exaggerated clown makeup, under the tagline 'It ha ha has to be Heinz.'

Critics said the imagery, especially the large painted-red mouth on a Black model included in the campaign, echoed minstrelsy — the historical practice of exaggerated red-lip makeup used to mock Black people on stage. The criticism landed within days of a separate Heinz ad also drawing accusations of racial insensitivity, compounding the backlash into one bad week for the brand.

Heinz apologized and pulled the campaign. A spokesperson told press: 'we recognise that this does not justify the hurt it may have caused... We are working to remove the advertisement immediately.'