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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, December 9, 2002

Why 'Ketchup' went splat

By Elysa Gardner
USA Today

It was touted as the "Macarena" of the new millennium, hitting No. 1 in 21 countries. But Spanglish dance novelty "The Ketchup Song" never made the splash in the United States that some radio and music-biz insiders had hoped for.

Despite being hyped by Time magazine, Spanish trio Las Ketchup's single "The Ketchup Song" hasn't caught on with American audiences.

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The failure wasn't for lack of attention. An avid publicity campaign by Sony Music on behalf of the song and its artists, Spanish sister trio Las Ketchup, spawned a media bonanza from outlets that didn't want to risk missing out on a seemingly sure-fire sensation:

  • Time, People, Entertainment Weekly and other top magazines did stories.
  • Radio stations in New York, Miami and a few other markets, mostly those with large Spanish-speaking populations, gave the song massive airplay.
  • Newspapers in those markets jumped on the bandwagon.
  • National and local morning TV shows spotlighted the song.

Just one problem: It wasn't a hit. The song peaked at No. 51 on Billboard's airplay chart, based on the number of times it was played weekly on the radio.

The culprit was the nation's legion of local radio stations, each of which must be convinced that a record will be positively received by its audience. Tests of the song with listeners generally didn't work in the single's favor.

Hear a clip from "Ketchup" at www.theketchupsong.com
Ed McMann, a DJ at Boston top-40 station WXKS-FM, says that despite some nightclub popularity, "Ketchup" never caught on with his listeners.

"The biggest hits are hits everywhere, but a lot of other stuff is localized," says McMann, also a fill-in host on Casey Kasem's national countdown show, "American Top 40." "Here in Boston, ('Ketchup') seems to have fizzled."

Frankie Blue, vice president of operations and programming at New York rhythmic top-40 station WKTU-FM, says some program directors may have been too conservative to embrace the spicy blend of Latin, hip-hop and reggae textures "Ketchup" dishes out.

Mark Bond, Sony Continental European VP for artist marketing, recently conceded to "Billboard" that his company "didn't wait until all the perfect tools, like a new video and remixes, were together on this record ... (because) we would have missed the boat in terms of radio over the summer."

Yet Airplay Monitor editor Sean Ross says "Ketchup" "didn't have the same chance to develop under radio's radar that 'Macarena' did. That song was around in the U.S. for close to a year before being promoted as heavily to radio."

As things stand, even Blue doesn't see the single taking Las Ketchup beyond the 15 minutes of fame the group already has enjoyed.