Kraft Heinz $KHC -1.31% is bringing back its glass ketchup bottle for a limited time, selling the classic container at Walmart $WMT -1.51% as part of a campaign marking the brand's 157th anniversary.
Heinz made the switch to squeezable plastic containers around the turn of the 1990s, phasing out the eight-sided, 14-ounce glass format that is now making its way back to retail, according to Adweek. A two-pack is priced at $14.99 at Walmart. Shoppers have been locked out of buying the bottle at retail for close to ten years.
The launch is tied to Heinz's "157 Years of Being Food's Best Friend" campaign, which marks 1869 — the year Henry John Heinz founded the company. Wieden+Kennedy New York produced a short film for the campaign called "Life of a Bottle," set inside a diner where a single bottle of Heinz passes between customers from morning to night — scored to Willie Nelson's cover of "All of Me."
"The glass bottle has become an icon," Kraft Heinz chief marketing officer Todd Kaplan told Adweek. "While our current bottles more functionally fit how people use ketchup today, they can't recreate the distinct experience of glass — the weight in your hand, the familiar look on the table, and the ritual of tapping the iconic '57' sweet spot to get the perfect pour." Kaplan cited the depth of consumer affection for Heinz as the reason the 157th anniversary presented the right occasion to put the bottle back on store shelves.
