I’m disturbed by these creepy Heinz ads for all the wrong reasons

Heinz has unleashed a series of disturbing ads embracing the spirit of the spooky season (perhaps a little too well). Coinciding with the recent Joker: Folie à Deux hype, each creepy ad features a person in the throes of laughter, sporting a traditional clown makeup smile with a ketchupy twist.

As a perpetual hater of messy eaters (and coincidentally, ketchup), this bizarre campaign makes my skin crawl for all the wrong reasons. Heinz is known for creating some of the best adverts of all time but for me, this unfortunately misses the mark. Whether it's the ominously dark backdrop or the creepy closeups, this campaign will haunt my nightmares for weeks to come.

The work of creative agency Gut New York, the simple yet disconcerting ads are part of Heinz's seasonal campaign 'Heinz Smiles'. Embellished with the tagline "It ha ha has to be Heinz", the ads are a crafty twist on the brand's global platform which launched last year.

"We’ve hacked a cultural moment, using our distinct Heinz personality and unique sense of humour to create something simple that speaks to the great taste of Heinz, and seeks to entertain our fans along the way,” says Heinz's Europe lead Hannah Winterbourne according to Marketing Beat. The frightfully messy ads will debut OOH and across digital channels, bringing chaos and creepiness to this year's Halloween season.

While I'm not the biggest fan of this campaign, Heinz has nailed it with other movie-inspired marketing like the Deadpool & Wolverine campaign that was utterly bizarre (and surprisingly brilliant). Heinz has been bringing some creatively weird energy to the branding world recently but the offbeat approach seems to be working – Heinz x Kit Kat's bizarre KitKat'Chup branding went viral on social media, delighting and disgusting fans in equal measure.