Heinz taps China’s National Games with a tomato twist
When the 15th National Games kicked off across Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, all eyes in China turned to sport.
Heinz saw an opening — not as a sponsor, but as a savvy participant in the cultural moment.
While the ketchup brand isn’t officially tied to the Games, it teamed up with creative agency Heaven & Hell Shanghai to tap into the national energy.
At the heart of the campaign is a clever visual device: the five leaflets of a tomato, arranged to resemble a human form.
Their angle? A visual conceptual link celebrating and linking athletic performance and tomato quality.
From there, the agency developed 34 tomato characters, each styled in the likeness of a sport featured at the Games.
Rhythmic gymnastics, basketball, judo — all reimagined in tomato form.
The line tying it together: “Every tomato that strives to win is in Heinz.”
The campaign dropped on November 9 to coincide with the Games’ opening.
It’s been pushed across high-traffic locations in Guangdong — from high-speed rail stations to elevator screens — and social platforms like Xiaohongshu, aiming to stir organic sharing.
