Heinz EZ Squirt: A Reflection on Failed Assumptions
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In 2000, H.J. Heinz Co. capitalized on the new movie “Shrek” by rolling out an innovative new product: Heinz EZ Squirt. This new style of Ketchup was green in color and the bottle featured a glue-style top that could be used to create ketchup art with ease.
Heinz sold over 10 million bottles of EZ Squirt in the first seven months, boosting total sales by 5.4%. Clearly the fun design was a hit with kids, who notoriously cling to uniquely-colored foods (think of candy, ice cream, cereal, etc.). Parents were curious to try the new product at first as well. The green ketchup was such a success that Heinz decided to produce more colors over the next year.
This is where one assumption was a failure: just because the green ketchup was a money-maker doesn’t mean that other colors will be. The popularity of the green ketchup can be linked almost directly to its association with the Shrek movies… so when more colors started to be released, the novelty began to lose some of its charm.
Think about a tomato- generally they can be green or red. The idea of green ketchup isn’t a far cry from “natural” red ketchup in the subconscious minds of consumers. What about blue? Not so close, and that is where another assumption turned into a failure. Heinz assumed that consumers would not care about the make-up of their product if it was “fun” and “cool”. Parents realized the process of removing the red color and applying a blue (or purple, pink, etc.) color to the ketchup was adding even more chemicals and processing to an already processed food. A lot of parents noted that this was their drawback of Heinz EZ Squirt.
Although EZ Squirt was a hit in the early days of its availability, it was eventually pulled from the market in 2006. We may never know, but it could be assumed that if the H.J. Heinz Co. had asked the right questions during their user research and testing, they may have changed their product plan to create a more marketable “fun” ketchup. Inevitably, their assumptions were the downfall of an undeniably unique idea.
Sources:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/07/11/50-worst-product-flops-of-all-time/36734837/
