When asked why he had chosen to paint cans of Campbell’s Soup, Andy Warhol had a straightforward response: “I used to have the same lunch every day, for 20 years, I guess, the same thing over and over again.”
The artist’s series of paintings of tins of tomato soup, created between 1961 and 1962, helped lift Campbell’s from the realm of boring cupboard staple to part of pop culture history.
However, what was once a blessing may now be a curse. Campbell’s executives have decided to ditch the word “soup” from the company name to shake off its association solely with one product.
“Today we’re so much more than soup,” declared chief executive Mark Clouse as he announced the change.
The canned food maker will instead become The Campbell’s Company, a change meant to highlight the fact that it also makes other products including V8 juices, Prego pasta sauces and Goldfish cheese crackers.
“This subtle yet important change retains the company’s iconic name recognition, reputation and equity built over 155 years while better reflecting the full breadth of the company’s portfolio,” Mr Clouse explained.
Founded in 1869 by Joseph A Campbell, a fruit merchant from New Jersey, the company was the first to sell canned soup more than a century ago.