The archive · PR & Stunts · Product decision · 2022–2023
Heinz engineers a stain-proof white thobe — Dubai Lynx 2023 Grand Prix
Heinz and Wunderman Thompson Dubai coat the Gulf's iconic white thobe in nanotechnology so men can eat ketchup fearlessly — Grand Prix, +61% sentiment.
Heinz (Kraft Heinz) · Wunderman Thompson Dubai
What it had to solve
Heinz was a global ketchup leader but felt foreign in Saudi Arabia, where the pristine white thobe is a symbol of pride and a stain on it is close to a stain on honor.
How it works
In Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, the white thobe is a symbol of pride, and a stain on it is close to a stain on honor. Heinz, despite being a global ketchup leader with decades of presence in the region, was seen as a foreign brand — and Gulf men were quietly avoiding ketchup and other staining foods to keep their robes impeccable.
Wunderman Thompson Dubai saw that avoidance as the product brief: make the national garment ketchup-friendly. After nearly a year of prototyping with local tailors and textile makers — first trying water-repellent sprays and ceramic coatings, both of which failed — the team found that a nanotechnology barrier had to be applied to the yarn before it became fabric, preserving the thobe's look, breathability and its ability to survive hundreds of washes.
The campaign reached over nine million people and earned more than two million media impressions, lifted positive social sentiment by 61%, was named an AdAge Top 5 campaign of the week, and won the Brand Experience & Activation Grand Prix at Dubai Lynx 2023.
Why it lands
- It converted a real cultural taboo — staining the thobe — into a product innovation instead of just another localized ad message.
- The tech was made invisible: the coating went into the yarn, so the garment stayed authentic to design, tailoring and regional variations.
- Local tailors were partners from research onward, which gave the idea legitimacy and avoided the risk of appearing to mess with a national symbol.
- The result was measurable brand sentiment: +61% positive social sentiment and global press coverage.
What it did
Reach passed nine million with two million earned-media impressions; positive social sentiment rose 61%, AdAge named it a Top 5 campaign, and it took the Brand Experience & Activation Grand Prix at Dubai Lynx 2023.
What you can take
A global brand earns local relevance not by changing its message but by engineering a fix for a local taboo — and the real work is the craft: a year of testing coatings to protect the yarn itself.
Since then
Heinz used the thobe as a tangible demonstration of local relevance, and the case spread into other markets with large Muslim populations. The idea of solving a cultural problem with a physical product, rather than an ad, became part of Wunderman Thompson's Dubai portfolio and was covered by D&AD's annual as a professional entry. The thobe itself remained a limited, earned-media artifact rather than a retail product.
Sources
- The Unstainable Thobe — VML
- Problem Solved: The Unstainable Thobe
- Lynx Awards MENA: 11 Grands Prix for Publicis
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