Stunt Watch: Black History Month 2024 brings hits, Heinz and misses

A Call For Black Emoji’s

So, first things first let’s talk about this stellar campaign from Rise365. As it is Black History Month, I felt we had to start off right by highlighting this notable cause and campaign.

Utilising some of the UK's most famous black celebrities, Rise365 is campaigning for more diversity in emojis. After scrolling through 4,000 of them, they realised none represented true black and brown features, including afros and curly hair, and they wanted change.

This is something I can really get behind. As of late, I’ve been driven by the mantra that seeing is believing and personally, when using emojis, I change the skin tone to represent my own. It really does give the nuances of how I speak to my friends some je ne sais quoi. However, in addition to this – and something we will come onto later – real authenticity and the ability to show up as yourself is necessary. And it goes further than skin tones because often texturism and avoiding natural hair textures in campaigns happens. Many a time, I’ve been down the rabbit hole of typing bad hair or wild hair into Google and being confronted by hundreds of black hair images. 

Enough is enough and I fully back this one.

Heinz Faux Pas-ta

Oh no Heinz. Just – sigh.

It would be remiss to talk about work that champions diversity without touching on this campaign. And I shall do so ever so lightly as the world has already dragged it through the mud.

Heinz launched its newest ad for its pasta sauce – which now comes in family size.

However the family in question, well. Let’s just show the ad.

Clumsy at best.

Lazy casting and age-old stereotypes were reinforced on what a ‘blended’ family looks like – including (or not including) the ‘missing black dad’. I’d also like to add this is wildly factually incorrect as no black mother is letting her daughter have basic Heinz pasta at her wedding.

Jokes aside, this is a mess – and goes to show that until we learn what real integration and diversity looks like, these god awful ads will continue to show their face and then get called out, rightfully so!

Image courtesy of Heinz/VML Spain

Heinz Joker Ad: a saga of two parts

That said – someone on the Heinz team (or its agency) was awake. There are not many times that I will call out an ad in Stunt Watch for its newsworthiness– but it was a newsjacking win I genuinely enjoyed.

Alongside the release of the long-awaited Joker: Folie à Deux, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, Heinz released a series of posters that nod to the iconic Joker red lip and laugh.

Just in layers, this campaign is striking.

The unofficial hint to the classic film captures the joy and fun that comes with eating Heinz Ketchup. Smart.

Updated: Well clearly I wasn’t awake – and neither was the Heinz team as the ad has now been scrapped because of the racist iconography of the black man with the sauce around his mouth – showing archetypal racist black face tropes.

I for one (and I can only speak for myself) think this one was an easily made mistake. What hasn’t helped is it has been done so recently after being called out for another racist ad blunder.

In isolation, it is still a great ad. And if it was a standalone shot of the man with the hot dog, it would have been applauded.