Ketchup bottle, George W. Bush, 2004 | Smithsonian Institution
Description
The 2004 presidential race was between the Republican incumbent President George W. Bush and his Democratic challenger John Kerry, senator from Massachusetts. Because Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz, was related to the Heinz family who founded a food processing company, a group of New York City Republicans started their own ketchup company to avoid eating Heinz ketchup.
Using a label picturing George Washington, W Ketchup was introduced in 2004 with the advertising slogan “You don’t support Democrats. Why should your Ketchup?” (Teresa Heinz was not a majority stakeholder in the Heinz Company.) The product was distributed through internet sales and no proceeds were contributed to political campaigns. The W Ketchup company ceased production in 2015.
