Heinz Tomato Blood Ketchup Is Back

I'll admit it: I'm a gimmicky food marketers' dream. I'm a sucker for any and all seasonal goofiness, especially as Halloween draws near. (For reference, please see our ongoing roundup of food-related Halloween costumes, as well as the haunted vodka we discussed earlier this week.) Seasonal food gimmicks are especially fun when they overlap with classic Dad humor—which is where Heinz Tomato Blood comes in.

Food Network reports that, from now until the end of October, the ketchup brand is giving its classic condiment a "creepy makeover," selling Heinz Tomato Blood Ketchup at grocery stores nationwide. It's also available online at HeinzHalloween.com.

"Only the juiciest, ripest tomatoes were harmed in the making of delicious Heinz Tomato Blood Ketchup," the company croons in a press release. That is to say: the product itself is exactly the same as classic Heinz ketchup. The "Tomato Blood" aspect just comes from an overhauled limited-edition label with a creepy black-and-red color scheme.

Also, if the Tomato Blood sounds familiar, that's because Heinz did the same thing last year—but the product has never been this widely available. In 2020, fans had to compete via a TikTok promotion to win a limited-edition bottle of Tomato Blood. This year, it sounds like you can scoot out to any ol' grocery store and/or fire up your web browser to get your hands on the stuff. That's good news, because TikTok contests are by far the most ghoulish aspect of 21st century life.

Ultimately, the Tomato Blood promotion is fun, harmless, and just icky enough to tempt me. On a related note, I like to imagine that somewhere, in a creepy alternate universe, sentient tomatoes are topping their burgers with Human Ketchup and peddling bottles of seasonal "Human Blood" during the spooky season. Pairs well with all your favorite savories!