Heinz ketchup announces winning user-made ad

PITTSBURGH Heinz has announced the winner of its “Top This” TV Challenge Take Two Web contest. A 25-year-old graduate student from Chicago, Matt Cozza, took home the $57,000 first prize for his 30-second spot featuring Heinz Ketchup and the tagline, “Now we eat.” The ad will air nationally this spring and run through the summer.

The “Top This” consumer-generated ad contest called for Heinz Ketchup fans to create ads showing the ketchup and telling why they like it. Visitors to the Heinz “Top This” Web site picked the winner from 10 semifinalists chosen by contest promoters.

In Cozza’s ad, diners grab Heinz Ketchup bottles off of carts in a restaurant and hold on for dear life. Cozza said he got the idea when he and some friends went out to eat one night and could not find any ketchup at their table.

A Heinz spokesperson said that the ads will appear on the Fine Living and Food networks, and also closed-circuit TV inside Six Flags amusement parks.