Official Ketchup and Syrup of Walt Disney World

Official Ketchup and Syrup of Walt Disney World

Official Ketchup and Syrup of Walt Disney World is a delightfully specific Eyes & Ears find from August 15, 1980, naming Del Monte and Mrs. Butterworth’s as “official” Walt Disney World participants.

Sometimes little things pop up while researching that do not need a full post, but still deserve their moment in the spotlight. While digging through the August 15, 1980 issue of Eyes & Ears for mentions of Darth Vader at Lake Buena Vista Village, I stumbled across a wonderfully specific piece of corporate-participant trivia: Walt Disney World had an official ketchup and an official syrup. 

NEW PARTICIPANTS JOIN WALT DISNEY WORLD

There’s two new participants who’ve joined us here at Walt Disney World Company.

For quite some time, Del Monte has been the “official ketchup of Walt Disney World,” and they are now expanding their participant relationship with us and are sponsoring the Diamond Horseshoe Revue in Liberty Square.

Our newest participant can be seen at the Market House on Main Street, U.S.A., and on breakfast tables throughout Walt Disney World Company. Mrs. Butterworths is now the “official syrup of Walt Disney World.”

Welcome to both these participants!

That blurb is doing a lot in a small space. It confirms that Del Monte had already been the “official ketchup of Walt Disney World” for some time by 1980, and that the company expanded its relationship by sponsoring the Diamond Horseshoe Revue in Liberty Square. 

Then there’s Mrs. Butterworth’s, which the article clearly names as the “official syrup of Walt Disney World,” noting it could be seen at the Market House on Main Street, U.S.A. and “on breakfast tables throughout” the resort.

Corporate Food History is Weird

If you want an extra layer of “corporate food history is weird,” it also shows how these “official” labels could change over time. In the mid-1980s, Hunt’s ran ads calling itself the official ketchup of Disneyland and Walt Disney World, which suggests the ketchup crown was not necessarily permanent.

And while we’re talking food brands in the parks, Kikkoman absolutely did have a major Magic Kingdom sponsorship: Adventureland Veranda was sponsored by Kikkoman beginning October 5, 1977, which makes this whole era feel like a golden age of unexpectedly specific partnerships. 

Disney did the same thing with snacks: a 1977 Eyes & Ears item named Orville Redenbacher the official popcorn of Walt Disney World, and in 2015 Pop Secret became the resort’s official popcorn under a new multi-year deal.

Strange stuff, indeed.

And exactly the kind of strange that makes old Eyes & Ears issues so much fun to dig through.