Heinz: Celebrating 150 years of Heinz by BBH London

Heinz has stumped up £12m for an international 150th-anniversary campaign, shining a spotlight on its heritage through one of its best-known products: tomato ketchup.

The move follows on from its global brand officer, Eduardo Luz, rebuffing concerns that the company's recent set of underwhelming financials had anything to do with underinvestment in marketing.

Created by BBH London, the TV ad at the heart of the new push celebrates '150 Years of Clean Plates'. Invoking a bit of nostalgia, it plays on the brand's longevity to show how a humble splodge of ketchup has been transforming meals across the world for decades.

Centred around the universally acknowledged insight that a clean plate is the sign of a good meal, the hero film was shot by award-winning directors Dom & Nic and is scored by Mike and Bernie Winters' track I Like It. Throughout the spot, eagle-eyed viewers may clock some hidden film references too.

It is part of a wider drive that will run across the UK and Europe as well as in Middle East and Africa. It won't run in the brand's home market of the US.

The brand's wider 150th birthday campaign will be cross-channel and includes a print and OOH campaign shot by Gareth Morgan which showcases more than 30 executions of single empty plates from different eras.

The drive will also run on social, digital and video-on-demand.