Oops: Outdated Heinz Code Links to Racy Website

For a period of time, the company inadvertently was promoting more than ketchup.
Elaina Zachos,


PHOTO VIA FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS

 

When Daniel Korell used the QR code on the back of a Heinz ketchup bottle from 2014 to enter an online contest in Germany, he got quite a surprise when the Web page loaded.

Instead of directing Korell to the company’s site, the outdated QR code sent him to a porn site.

In an email sent to CNNMoney, Michael Mullen, Heinz's senior vice president of Corporate & Government Affairs, says that Heinz in Germany has apologized for the incident.

“Clearly this was never our intention and we are taking steps to avoid this from re-occuring,” Mullen writes to the news outlet.

 

This article appears in the June 2015 issue of The 412.
Categories: The 412