Weetabix sparks social media storm with Baked Beans mashup

Weetabix sparks social media storm with Baked Beans mashup

Weetabix Food Company has reported a surge in sales of its cereal, after it tweeted a controversial pairing with Heinz Beanz as part of a Sainsbury’s promotion.

Sainsbury’s co-ordinated the unlikely pairing of brands together for Valentine’s Day. The tweet racked up over one billion views, becoming the number one trending topic on Twitter, and sparking headlines in national newspapers.

Weetabix head of brand Gareth Turner said the business “certainly didn’t imagine we’d get such a big response on social media” and the post was “part of our wider campaign to encourage people to eat their Weetabix in different ways”.

A Heinz spokesman said the Beanz brand had “certainly gained a lot of positive attention” from the tweet, with the fmcg giant estimating it had made over 2 billion impressions.

Weetabix went so far as to partner with Sainsbury’s to merchandise Weetabix and Heinz Beanz together for Valentine’s Day at its Kiln Lane store in Epsom, dubbing the duo “the love story of the year”.

Weetabix sales were up £8.7m (6%) to £153.3m over the year to 5 September 2020, while Heinz Beanz sales grew by £25.9m (12.8%) to £229.2m [Nielsen].

Many other brands joined in on the fun, tweeting their own replies:
Superdrug


Papa Johns


Nandos


KFC


Toblerone


…and even the NHS