Heinz Casts a Wide Net to Find a Man Who Was Rescued at Sea

This article has been updated on Feb. 28 with additional information about Ketchup Boat Guy's whereabouts. UPDATE: Ketchup Boat Guy has been located at his home on the island of Dominica, according to Heinz, after its Instagram post reached 4.8 million people and logged more than 4,000 likes. The results set a record for the condiment maker's social engagement. With an assist from local reporters at the Caribbean island's EmoNews, Heinz reps have been in contact with Ketchup Boat Guy—real name Elvis Francois—and are working out logistics to deliver his boat. "Anyone who shared, liked or commented on the brand's post helped broaden the reach and played an important part in finding Elvis," according to a statement from Heinz. "And Heinz wants to thank everyone who helped." Liquid Death Superfan Survives Skydiving Crash and Gets…A Lousy T-Shirt PREVIOUSLY: A man who was lost at sea for 24 days—surviving on only ketchup, spices and rainwater—has proven to be similarly elusive now that he’s back on dry land. The Kraft Heinz Company is asking for help in locating Elvis Francois, who made international news last month when he was rescued 120 nautical miles off the coast of Colombia. The legacy brand, fresh off a clever Super Bowl stunt, wants to give him a new state-of-the-art boat so he never has to go through a harrowing ordeal like that again. But attempts to get in touch have failed. “We even reached out to the Colombia Navy, who found him at sea, and Dominica Immigration services, but no luck,” the brand said in a statement. “Now, we’re taking our search to the masses.” Heinz has launched "#FindTheKetchupBoatGuy" “hoping to spread the word far and wide” and posted a message in a bottle on Instagram. Heinz markets around the world are expected to be involved in the program. Looking for any credible leads to the 47-year-old man’s whereabouts, Heinz wants to “reward him with a new boat equipped with full navigational technology to avoid another disaster in the future.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Heinz (@heinz) Casting a wide net According to news reports, Francois had been repairing his sailboat near St. Maarten in the Antilles islands in December when currents swept him out to sea. From there, he faced one disaster after another: He tried to get back to port, but by the time he fixed and mounted his sail, he was lost and disoriented, he told his rescuers. Francois’ ship-to-shore service failed him, so he couldn’t contact anyone, and his boat was leaking so he had to bail water constantly. He tried to light a fire and send a distress signal, without success. Unprepared for a journey, he had no food on board. “It was just a bottle of ketchup that was on the boat, garlic powder and Maggi (stock cubes) so I mixed it up with some water,” Francois said in a video provided by the Colombian army. He spelled out HELP on the hull of the boat and signaled a passing plane with a mirror. He was eventually saved by a container ship that took him to Cartagena, per news reports. Healthy but exhausted, he was scheduled to return to his home in Dominica. Since then, he’s been scarce, per Heinz, which is hoping someone will come forward with information via DM. Heinz is “setting this message adrift into the sea of the internet, because if anyone can help us find him, it’s you,” per the brand’s open letter, crafted by in-house division The Kitchen. By the way, there’s no word on the brand of ketchup that sustained Francois, but Heinz is not splitting hairs on that detail.

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Heinz Wants to Give Rescued Man a New Boat, but Has to Find Him First

The brand is asking for the public's help to track down Elvis Francois, who survived 24 days at sea with only ketchup to eat

T.L. Stanley

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T.L. Stanley