Heinz has decided not to pay the roughly $5 million for a 30-second ad spot during this year’s matchup between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. Instead, the company is giving its employees the day off.
Heinz also launched a petition to make the day after the Super Bowl a national holiday, which it proposes we call “Smunday.”
The company promised to send the petition to Congress if it reaches 100,000 signatures:
We can all agree that going to work the Monday after the “Big Game” on Sunday is awful. So as far as we’re concerned at Heinz, we as a nation should stop settling for it being the worst work day of the year. We don’t settle for that awesome football Sunday to be just like every other day of the year. No. We eat. We drink. And we be merry, having the tastiest times of our lives. But then the very next day we settle for that Monday being a terrible work day.
Statistics show over 16 million people call in sick or just don’t show up to work. And for those that do, productivity plummets so far that the country loses on average around $1 billion (true story). Enough with the madness. This is where YOU come in.
Sign the petition to make the day after the Big Game a National Holiday. Share it with friends, family and even strangers and get THEM to sign it. If we get over 100,000 signatures, it will be sent to Congress.
Here’s the entire explanation of the campaign, which will not be shown during Super Bowl LI:
“We wanted to get behind an initiative that we know people feel strongly about,” Kraft marketing executive Nicole Kulwicki told Bloomberg.
The extra vacation day might not make up for employees’ recent hardships, either—especially because it’s not being offered to any of its factory workers.
Bloomberg reported:
Kraft Heinz, formed in a 2015 merger orchestrated by Warren Buffett and the private equity firm 3G Capital, had about 42,000 employees at the end of 2015. Despite the latest perk, life hasn’t been easy for the company’s workers. Kraft Heinz has slashed thousands of jobs, shuttered factories and cut corporate expenses in a bid to improve margins.
The post-Super Bowl vacation also won’t be extended to all the company’s employees. Kraft Heinz, which has dual headquarters in Chicago and Pittsburgh, will still be operating its factories that day.
The campaign was met with some excitement online:
@HeinzKetchup_US this is pretty cool and clever. Although I hate going to work EVERY day year round. Ahhh Lottery Dreams!!
— Elliot Tod Rodger (@tod_rodger) January 26, 2017
@HeinzKetchup_US
— Brantley Davis (@Bdavis1461) January 26, 2017
But Then We'd Never Be Able to ....Ketch Up!:)
However, not everyone is a fan of the PR move:
@HeinzKetchup_US This type of marketing can be described as pandering at best. Pull it together. It's so gross.
— Alex! (@alexlawrens) January 25, 2017
@heinzketchup_us I think we have bigger things to worry about!
— tracey d and tobie (@tc1242000) January 25, 2017
@HeinzKetchup_US Why in the hell would we have a national holiday centered around a sports event. Suck it up buttercup and go to work.
— Tom Bell (@tbellinitial) January 26, 2017
@HeinzKetchup_US I know this is tongue in cheek marketing bit how about fighting to make election days holidays #ketchupwiththetimes
— Glenn Robinson (@glennythpaltrow) January 25, 2017
At time of publishing, the petition only has 4,120 signatures. That—and the mixed reaction from folks online—might not be reason to worry, however.
If the PR pros behind this gambit are more interested in headlines than in signatures, it’s already a success: The Daily Mail,Advertising Age, Adweek, Bloomberg, Fortune, USA Today, CNBC and several other publications have written about the effort. As have we, obviously.
from PR Daily News Feed http://ift.tt/2jiXhiI
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