Kraft Heinz’s CMO on the Secret Sauce Behind Its Mustard Collab

Kendrick Lamar is gearing up for the biggest performance of his life at the Super Bowl Halftime show on Sunday. But let’s rewind to November 2024 when his surprise album “GNX,” received the meme treatment because of the way he humorously screamed “MUSTARRRDDDDDD!” on the song “tv off,” produced by Dijon McFarlane, aka Mustard.

Brands like McDonald’s and Heinz were quick to tap into the cultural moment. However, Heinz took things a step further this week by teasing a collaboration with the producer during the Grammys on Feb. 3.

A 30-second spot promoting a limited-edition sauce ran between the Record of the Year and Song of the Year awards presentations during the awards show, two of five awards that Lamar and Mustard were nominated for (and ultimately won) for their hit diss track “Not Like Us.”

The ad appeared to be a simple Heinz ketchup ad before the viral “MUSTAAAAAARRRD!” soundbite blasted from the speakers. The screen quickly morphed into a teaser for the partnership and Mustard’s limited-edition flavor slated for release this summer.

The spot was developed by Kraft Heinz’s in-house agency The Kitchen with help from Cashmere and media planning from Carat.

Todd Kaplan, chief marketing officer (CMO) of Kraft Heinz North America told ADWEEK the partnership was a long time coming due to Mustard’s genuine love for the product.

“Mustard, he’s such a good human, producer, all of the things, and seeing him and Kendrick with this moment, I think everyone’s rooting for him,” Kaplan said. “Knowing that we’ve come and played a small part in that story to help amplify and add to it is something we’re proud of.”

With Mustard’s rumored guest appearance during Lamar’s upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance, Kaplan remained tight-lipped about how Kraft Heinz might capitalize on the buzz on social. However, the exec confirmed he will be in attendance in New Orleans on Super Bowl Sunday.

The CPG has no plans to run an individual spot in the Big Game, though its Heinz Wiener Dogs and Kool-Aid brands will feature in Instacart’s ad.

ADWEEK spoke with Kaplan about how the Mustard collab came together and how it fits into Heinz’s wider marketing strategy.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

ADWEEK: Why did Heinz decide to jump on this cultural moment?

TODD KAPLAN: “This partnership with Mustard, it’s been in discussions with him for nearly a year, in the making. He’s been around long before people were saying ‘MUSTAAAAAARRRD!’ As a brand that’s a household name like Heinz, we don’t have an awareness issue. It’s about trying to drive deeper relevance and connection to our consumers and knowing what a passion point music is and how culturally relevant Mustard is.

“Now, he’s at a whole new level of cultural fluency, [and] I think it’s a great connection point for our brands and a way to authentically find a connection to a product that we don’t talk a lot about.”

AW: You said this was a year in the making, so what was that initial approach and conversation like? Nobody knew there was going to be this moment with him and Kendrick Lamar, but it sounds like that gave the brand more of a reason to push this partnership out right now.

TK: “It’s been a bit of a mutual discussion. He’s an authentic fan of the product. He made his own Heinz diamond-encrusted yellow chain. And so knowing that, that started the discussion of like, ‘Hey, we see you. Let’s talk.’ As we got into it, we realized there’s a lot of good synergies and then, as you know, his stuff continued to come out with Kendrick in terms of “Not Like Us” and “tv off.” We had done some stuff on social with him during a couple of those earlier key moments and things like that as well. 

“We just had him, a few weeks ago, to our offices with our R&D [research and development] people, and now the opportunity to be able to formulate a new limited-edition mustard. He’s super excited, we’re super excited, [and] it’s a really great partnership.”

AW: What has the reaction been like? 

TK: “Nowadays, especially with advertising and marketing, a lot of stuff doesn’t get noticed that’s out there today, let alone get embraced. The sentiment has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s been fun seeing the culture recognize it as it is rippling out and doing its thing, which is great.”

AW: How does something like this fit Heinz’s wider marketing strategy? 

TK: “Understanding the role these cultural passion points can play in brand-building, especially for brands that are so developed [and] well known, have awareness, have household penetration, so it’s not like people haven’t heard of Heinz. It’s how people connect to it on a deeper level, and the role that music plays is such an enriching part of people’s lives.

“The key is figuring out how to connect authentically into those spaces in the right way, understanding the role your brand does and doesn’t play, and the whole campaign around Heinz is this idea of ‘irrational love.’

“There are people who have Heinz tattoos, and they put ketchup on everything, and it has to be Heinz. And as you have that irrational love for other elements of your life, as you look at music as a great example, there are people who will fly to another city just to go to Kendrick’s concert. There are people who will follow 20 different social handles just to get the latest scoop. That’s irrational love, and that’s where it’s a great connection for our brand and a new voice for Heinz too.

“This is a new way we’re approaching Heinz, and a lot of our brands at Kraft Heinz, deeper into culture.”

AW: Heinz received criticism for its “Heinz Smiles” campaign which was accused of evoking blackface imagery. What lessons did you learn from that campaign now as you partner with a Black artist?

TK: “It showed us that a big company like us can have brand safety protocols that I think internally needed to reevaluate processes to ensure we’re safeguarding the brands, being mindful of cultural impact, and we’re committed to doing that. We’ll continue to actively listen, learn, and grow.

“As it relates to this collaboration, Mustard has had decades-long fandom for Heinz and we’re celebrating him at the end of the day, we’re celebrating his achievement as a musician, as a producer, and just really trying to make sure we connect with him in the right ways.”

AW: If we were to talk in six months, what would you have wanted this campaign to achieve? 

TK: “I have this philosophy with our team that I’m trying to implement now, I call it ‘marketing that happens.’ So six months from now, I would like to look back and say, ‘Wow, people remember that this happened?’ This wasn’t just a one-and-done moment.”

AW: Last question. Are you a fan of Kendrick Lamar? What are some of your favorite songs? 

TK: “Oh my gosh, yeah. I like “DNA,” “King Kunta.” I’m from Southern California. I’m a big West Coast hip-hop fan. I’m probably a lot older than you, so I’m more like the Dr. Dre, Snoop, Tupac [era]. But K. Dot comes from there, so yes. His new album [GNX] is quite good. “tv off” obviously is great, “dodger blue.” There’s a couple on there I like.”