What started with one Ontario dad's viral Facebook post has turned into an entire patriotic, ketchup-based movement.
Last week, Brian Fernandez posted that his family had made the switch from Heinz to French's ketchup after learning French's uses Canadian tomatoes.
Here's the backstory: Heinz closed a plant in Leamington, Ont. in 2014, putting more than 700 people out of work. It was a huge blow to a place know as the "Tomato Capital of Canada" where Heinz had been operating for more than a century.
People were upset, to say the least.
Then, earlier this year, French's stepped in and pledged to use Leamington tomatoes for its ketchup.
While the good folks in Leamington were well aware of what's been happening, many Canadians were not. Fernandez's revelation on Facebook has now been shared nearly 130,000 times.
And now it's getting political. Taras Natyshak, an Ontario MPP for the NDP, has launched a petition asking the provincial legislature to only serve French's ketchup instead of Heinz.
In the meantime, many Canadians have been proudly proclaiming they've made the swtich
I'm Canadian and so is my ketchup. #frenchsketchup
Digging the local support! #FrenchsKetchup #Leamington #friesbestfriend #thisismotor #yqg #detroit #supportlocal
There are reports of French's ketchup selling out at grocery stores amid the hubbub, but Leamington's mayor doesn't want consumers to boycott all Heinz products.
In a Facebook note, Mayor John Paterson noted that some other Heinz products are still manufactured at the Leamington facility, such as vinegar, tomato juice, and pasta sauce.