A group of Heinz fans wants to squash the H.J. Heinz Co.'s plans to take the pickle image off its ketchup labels for the first time in more than a century.
The company announced the plan last week. Within days, a Facebook page, "Save the Heinz Pickle," had been set up.
Heinz officials said the change would better connect the condiment to the wholesome tomatoes inside -- a tomato will replace the pickle image.
The new label also will carry the tag line, "Grown not made," and Pittsburgh-based Heinz plans an ad campaign in late spring that will promote that message.
Exactly what the anti-change contingent plans to do isn't clear yet.
Troy Bogdan, a Bridgeville, Pa. resident in the winter and a northwestern Pennsylvania organic garlic farmer in the summer, was sort of joking when he asked his Facebook-linked friends over the weekend if they should campaign against the move.
With a little encouragement, he went for it. "Personally, I'm kind of a traditionalist, and I like history," said Bogdan. He remembers getting pickle pins that Heinz handed out at community events and once even at the North Side factory.
The company traces the use of the image to 1893 when the founder used a "pickle pin" to attract attention to his booth at the Chicago World's Fair.
If the early response is any indication, Bogdan's campaign may have tapped into the well of Heinz fans around the country. Still, it may take some doing to get the company to budge.
"We have received an overwhelmingly positive response from consumers regarding the new Heinz Ketchup Label," said spokeswoman Jessica Jackson in an e-mail. She said a similar change in the United Kingdom last year was well received.
Perhaps to give fans of the pickle logo something to cling to, she noted the image would continue to hold pride of place on labels for products such as vinegar, chili sauce and mustard.
Meanwhile, Bogdan said one co-conspirator -- a former Pittsburgher living in the Portland, Ore., area -- is securing a domain name to build a Save-The-Pickle Web site, and there's been talk of doing T-shirts and bumper stickers.
(E-mail Teresa F. Lindeman at tlindeman(at)post-gazette.com)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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