Carnivores cringed last month when President Trump poured ketchup on a $54 dry-aged steak.

Business being business, condiment giant Heinz may be hoping the president’s taste buds set off their own economic red crusade around the ketchup-maker.

This photo shows a Heinz ketchup ad inspired by the TV show "Mad Men." The idea of the campaign is to emphasize that certain foods need ketchup to be complete. Courtesy of Heinz via AP

Heinz – which controls 63 percent of the U.S. ketchup market – just launched a monthlong advertising campaign in Trump’s hometown with the simple words, “Pass the Heinz.” One of three ads features a mouthwatering slice of medium-rare steak dangling on a fork – no ketchup in sight.

Two more ads include a cheeseburger with the works and a heap of crinkle french fries. All three ads ran in the New York Post, and the fries ran in Variety.

Heinz said the ketchup campaign was in the works a long time, well before Trump committed the unthinkable and added ketchup to his steak. The initiative is based on an episode of the popular AMC television show “Mad Men,” a period series set during the 1950s and 1960s. The show ran from 2007 to 2015.

In the TV episode, protagonist Don Draper pitches a “Pass the Heinz” campaign that does not show the ketchup, which was considered so risky as a way to sell the product that the client rejected the concept.

But half a century later, Heinz and its advertising house, David the Agency, have resurrected it.

“The idea was inspired by the show,” Heinz brand head Nicole Kulwicki said. “The David team came to us with this idea and we felt it still worked today.”

She said the photographs of the steak, the cheeseburger and the fries were shot to appear exactly as they were first presented by the fictional Draper.

Allen Adamson, founder of BrandSimple Consulting, said he thinks the ads work, but that print and billboards have limited appeal these days.

“While they were effective in the Mad Men days, people don’t linger that much with print ads,” Adamson said. “Today, you need to hit them between the eyes with a 2-by-4 to get their attention.”

Kulwicki said the three billboard ads will remain up in New York for the next month. No further print ads are planned. She said Heinz is sharing the billboard images on its social media channels.

“We wanted to be also to share the campaign with ‘Mad Men’ and Heinz fans nationwide,” she said.

Heinz is part of Kraft Heinz Co., which had revenue of more than $26 billion in 2016, making it the the third-largest food and beverage company in North America and fifth-largest in the world. Its brands include Kraft Mac & Cheese, Oscar Mayer meats and Maxwell House coffee.

Kulwicki said the campaign was timed to the 10th anniversay of “Mad Men.” She said the idea behind “Pass the Heinz” isn’t just ketchup, but the company’s latest entrants into the condiment field, including a new yellow mustard that was launched in 2015 followed by five barbecue sauces a year later.

Heinz and its agency played the links to “Mad Men” to the hilt, evoking the 1960s with typewriter lettering on the announcement and crediting the Draper’s fictional advertising firm, Sterling Cooper Draper Price as co-agency with David.

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