Curtice Brothers: Ketchup to the Rescue

In a world where marketing research groups are placed in small rooms and paid money for their "unbiased" opinions, Curtice Brothers went searching for truly honest opinions and comments on their award-winning ketchup. To prove the unique quality of Curtice Brothers, they let the brutally honest users of TripAdvisor review the ketchup without even knowing. They found the worst restaurants on TripAdvisor, gave them bottles of Curtice Brothers to place on their tables for the clients and just waited to see if the ketchup would make any difference to their ratings.
Agency: Ogilvy, Berlin

And it did.

From comments like “Horror story”, “Terrible”, “Don’t waste your money,” the restaurants started to get reviews like “A Solid C+” and “Not the worst option”. This self-deprecating and tongue-in-cheek campaign pointed to the fact that Curtice Brothers knows that even the winner of the Great Taste award 3 years in a row can only do so much to save a meal. The best thing a great Ketchup can do is make not okay food okay.

A campaign made with real comments showed the effect of the ketchup on the food. Billboards near the restaurants highlighted how Curtice Brothers changed the reviews – from one dot to... drumroll... two dots.