Heinz Apologizes For QR Code That Links to Porn Site

Heinz has apologized to a German man who scanned a QR code on one of their bottles of ketchup, which now links to a porn site.

“Hot” Ketchup

Daniel Korell clicked on a QR code on the back of a Heinz bottle of hot ketchup, hoping to enter a promotion which would allow him to design his own label. Where that QR code took him, however, was much hotter than the ketchup in the bottle: a hardcore porn website.

Korell tagged the Heinz Tomato Ketchup Facebook page in a photo he posted on May 23. It shows the back of a Heinz ketchup bottle which includes a promotional QR code. In the background is a phone which apparently attempted to visit the promotion linked by that QR code –  which now points to a porn site.

“Your ketchup is probably not for minors,” the man wrote in German.

Old Bottle

The domain for the contest featured in the QR code was active from 2012 to 2014. When the link expired, porn site Fundorado registered the domain.

The Local DE notes that the bottle used was a “leftover” that was filled after the contest had already ended.

Heinz social media reps apologized for the mixup, and offered to allow Korell to design a label for the expired promotion. “I’ll probably suffer no permanent damage, but I appreciate your offer,” Korell responded.

The porn site also responded to the Facebook post, offering the man a year of free membership to their site. It isn’t clear if that offer was accepted.