The Brief
57 varieties, eh? Yeh, right. Like anyone could make that many.
The Loony Letter
Dear Sirs,
Do you REALLY make 57 varieties? That sure is a lot of varieties to make.
Yours Sincerely,
Bill Bennett
The Reply
Dear Mr Bennett,
The 57 logo is very well known. This ‘magic’ number dates back to the early days of the Company.
The founder of the Company was Henry J Heinz, from Pennsylvania in the United States.
The Company was formed in the US in 1869.
The business prospered and in 1886 Henry sailed to Britain. With five sample cases of his product, he called first at Fortnum and Mason in London. They bought the lot. A few years after that first visit to Britain, Henry Heinz spotted a shoe advertisement which read ‘21 styles’. That set him totting up his own products: 56,57,58,59..
There were still a few more but something made him linger over “57’. It seemed a distinctive number, so ‘57 varieties’ it was. Today, worldwide business markets many hundreds of products under various brand names but the famous ‘57’ varieties trademark has passed into the language.
Yours sincerely
Michele Stokes
Consumer Care Co-ordinator
The Review
A form factsheet reply, but essentially they’re saying “OK, we’re lying, we actually make more than 57 products, but we don’t like telling our customers that.”
Big fat liars – but a fascinating story nonetheless.
