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Heinz’s ingenious way to stop you from skipping the ad
MUMBAI: Heinz Tomato Ketchup has launched its new campaign which features mouth-watering food and how people are so engrossed in eating the Heinz ketchup that they ignore everything else.
When Heinz Tomato Ketchup aspired to spread its brand message, the brand wanted to do so in a unique manner that grabs the viewer’s attention. Kraft Heinz in collaboration with digital agency FoxyMoron found an ingenious way to circumvent this using a quirky technique to create curiosity and keep the viewer hooked on. Most viewers on YouTube view pre-rolls as white noise before tuning into videos that hold their interest. These interactive pre-rolls are first of its kind, where unlike any other skip ad, the protagonist is so engrossed in eating that he/she tells the viewer to skip the advertisement and leave them alone.
The campaign consists of six pre-rolls ads wherein the protagonists do exactly the opposite and tell the viewer to hit the skip button. The videos then proceed to showcase how the protagonist enjoys the taste of Heinz Tomato Ketchup so much that they don’t care about their surroundings or anything else at all.
This helped build curiosity by telling the viewer to skip the advertisement within the first five-seconds, followed by showcasing common and relatable individuals indulging in food with Heinz Tomato Ketchup.
By telling its viewers to hit the skip button, Heinz Tomato Ketchup created intrigue and got the viewers to watch what the pre-roll had to offer and the results did not disappoint!
FoxyMoron co-founder Suveer Bajaj adds,“With the five innovate pre-roll concepts we developed for Heinz Ketchup, we toyed with the idea of tempting users to skip an ad, or continue enjoying the ketchup experience that Heinz presents us all with on a daily basis. We saw a shocking completion rate of 32 per cent (2X industry standard) on skippable inventory proving that the daring slice-of-life creative managed to manifest a delicious everyday ketchup experience for all!”
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Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
