Dive Brief:

• Heinz is looking to raise awareness around soil degradation with the launch of a Fortnite island, called “S.O.S. Tomato Island,” according to details shared with Marketing Dive. The effort was made in partnership with Druid Gaming.
• Inspired by Heinz’s tomato farms, the themed island on Fortnite tasks players with maintaining the health of a tomato farm. The effort uses Fortnite’s progressively shrinking island but advances the speed in which its shrinks by 33%, meant to represent how quickly soil health is declining. The effort is supported with a multi-channel campaign and a Twitch activation.
• The effort also includes a real-world element, with Heinz vowing to contribute to the protection of an extra 13.5 million acres of squared soil in addition to existing environmental efforts as part of its soil health program. The move is the latest under the food marketer designed to push sustainability.

Dive Insight:

Heinz is looking to highlight its environmental efforts in a Gen Z and Gen Alpha directed Fortnite effort. The Fortnite island not only taps into younger consumers’ love of gaming and passion for sustainability, but also positions Heinz as a environmentally conscious company. On the S.O.S. Tomato Island, players are tasked with using Heinz-supported practices, such as crop rotation, cover cropping and soil cover maintenance in order to grow tomatoes for ketchup production.

To make things interesting, players will have to beat out “The Storm,” a Fortnite battle zone which slowly shrinks the available safe area on the island. This gives even more seasoned players a reason to visit, potentially spiking interest beyond the product being promoted. The island will be teased on Twitch by popular streamers and can be reached with the code 1877-1435-6432.

Creative for the effort was handled by GUT São Paulo. Heinz has made a concerted effort to court younger consumers in recent years. For example, the brand took to TikTok to promote its limited-edition, Halloween-themed product “Tomato Blood.” The Fortnite island isn’t even the product’s first gaming-themed activation: In 2021 the condiment producer teamed up with the company behind Call of Duty.

Heinz has also made sustainability a focus, another driver for Gen Z consumers. In 2020, the company announced it would be making a conscious effort to increase its sustainable farming practices, per release details. In August, the company also released a vintage line of ketchup-stained clothing meant to celebrate sustainable clothing.