Beans on the menu as Heinz puts on Five cookery show

by Matt Reed,, Brand Republic 12-Jun-03, 15:15

LONDON - Heinz has created and paid for a TV food series on Five about cooking for families, which pushes a range of its own products.

The show, which is called 'Dinner Doctors' and presented by Anneka Rice, gives mothers ideas for quick and easy meals for children, including baked beans, spaghetti and macaroni cheese -- all products that are available from Heinz.

The programme is part of a £2m campaign to promote Heinz beans and pasta meals and Five picked up the 10-part series, which started on Monday, for free.

The show is bookended with idents that feature Heinz products and invite viewers to request factsheets. The programme link-up with Five is also being promoted on-pack in stores.

The idea for the show and the programme's development was done by Leo Burnett's interactive TV and content arm Spring London.

Anna Prosser, client services director at Spring London, said: "It is a powerful example of how advertisers can use TV programming to directly communicate a brand's messages and values."

The show keeps within Independent Television Commission rules restricting product placement because the beans, pasta and similar foods used in the programme are not from a Heinz tin.

The Food Commission has voiced concerns about food manufacturers sponsoring programmes in the past. It points out the high levels of salt that tinned foods carry, including Heinz products.

Earlier this year, Heinz was rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority for a misleading representation of the health benefits of its tomato soup under its "5-A-Day The Heinz Way" scheme following a complaint by the Food Commission.

The commission complained that press and poster ads for Heinz canned tomato soup, which sport its 5-A-Day logo, were misleading as they implied the product comprised two of the daily recommended portions. The scheme is separate from the Department of Health's Five-A-Day initiative.

The programme has been produced by Chrysalis Television.

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