The concept was to bring Don Draper’s idea to life. In the show, the fictional Heinz clients may not have seen his vision, but the real Heinz did. The idea was to faithfully recreate the ads proposed in the show and then seed them out in areas where Mad Men fans would find them. As 2017 marks the 10th anniversary of the show’s beginning, it was the perfect time to launch as fans become nostalgic about the show.

We reached out to LionsGate and AMC to get the rights for the campaign and, for the first time, took an idea from a fictional agency and ran it in the real world, in both billboards and print ads.

And while it was even more meaningful to know the reference, everyone would understand the message because a naked plate of fries isn’t the same without the great taste of Heinz ketchup.

We needed to faithfully bring to life Don’ s vision for Heinz. This meant recreating the pitch boards exactly as they were in the episode. But this also meant getting approvals from LionsGate, to AMC to the show’s creator Matthew Wiener.

We used 1960’s media, because online didn’t exist. So each of the three ads became billboards in New York (the home of Don Draper’s agency) as well as ads in newspapers and magazines. PR pushed the message further by utilizing the show’s theme: a press release in old typewriter font, from the fictional agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and the show’s creators appearing on the credits.

We targeted Mad Men fans and trade publications as our main media focus, as they were the ones who amplified the message, managing to viralize it even amongst non fans of the show who were then exposed to the campaign and it’s meaning.

+ 2.6 BILLION MEDIA IMPRESSIONS

+ USD $59 MILLION IN EARNED MEDIA

HEINZ MOST TALKED ABOUT AD CAMPAIGN EVER

HEINZ MOST EFFICIENT AD CAMPAIGN EVER

4540% RETURN OF INVESTMENT

THE FIRST REVERSE PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN ADVERTISING

DON DRAPER’S MOST SUCCESSFUL AD CAMPAIGN

SOURCES: ABMC, CISON, STARCOM, HEINZ U.S.