Label boosts sales 17% in Heinz promotion - H.J. Heinz uses temperature sensitive ink on labels in promotion - Brief Article

Food & Drug Packaging, Sept, 2001

H. J. Heinz parlayed a temperature-sensitive ink into a 17% sales increase for a summer promotion. The ink carried a hidden message that told consumers if they won up to $20,000 worth of prizes.

The message became visible when the bottle was chilled. The message was printed in a thermochromic ink, one that can change color at different temperatures.

Produced by Promo Edge, the Opti-Therm ink delivers the game message on the bottle's back label. Invisible at room temperature, the ink changes color when the temperature dips below 57 [degrees] F.

"It takes anywhere from one minute to one hour to reveal the message, depending on the temperature in the refrigerator," says Heinz spokesman Michael Mullen.

Because the game message is printed directly on the label, no secondary label is needed. This saves material costs as well as a step on the packaging line. A proprietary two-step process was used to print the labels with the ink.

The consumer has to peel away the top part of the label to reveal the message on the back, stating either the consumer is a winner or "Heinz still loves you but you did not win anything this time."

The thermal label was placed on 20 million of the 300 million bottles Heinz expects to sell this year.

Promo Edge 920-751-1600; www.promoedge.com