I am so confused.You may remember a rant I had a little over a year ago about the loss to our supermarket shelves of the famous Campbell's Soup tin. It seemed a strange decision to rebrand an iconic company with a less than iconic brand. A little further investigation (reading the BBC website) threw a little light on the situation but still didn't make a huge amount of sense to me. See if you can make something of it.
Basically a company over here bought the rights to make Campbell's Soup in the UK. A group called Premier foods (you may have heard of some of their licensed brands, Mr Kipling, Hovis, Birds, Oxo, Crosse & Blackwell, Angel Delight, SunPat, Sunblest, Smash, Lyod Grossman, Ambrosia, Bisto... etc etc etc.) They bought the rights to make the soup but not the rights to use the brand. So they make Campbell's Soup using the Campbell's Soup recipe, but can't call it Campbell's Soup - hence the rebrand to Bachelors Soup (or Erin Soup in Ireland.)
Still with me?
Meanwhile in the US they still have good old original Campbell's Soup, by the same recipe, in the same tins as they always had. They just can't sell it in the UK - well, not for another 5 years at least when Premier's exclusive license to make it in the UK runs out.
So why am I confused? Well, I've just been shopping and found a Campbell's logo at the end of aisle 30 along with an "introductory offer" It turns out that, while Bachelors have the license to make the tinned condensed soup, it doesn't cover instant or dried versions. So a company up in Leeds, Symingtons, have developed a dried version, got the ok from Campbell's, and have started selling cup soup, simmer soup and (rather confusingly) pasta & sauce and savoury rice. What makes me laugh about this is the remarkable similarity to existing products, (respectively) cup-a-soup, Express Soupfuls, Pasta n' Sauce, and Savoury rice - all made by... guess who. I'm just waiting to hear the annoucement that Campbells will be bringing out Campbell's Supa-Noodles.
So we now have Bachelors making a product that is intrinsically linked to Campbell's. Meanwhile Campbells are bringing out products that have always been best associated with Bachelors... Now can you understand my confusion.
I've just sent an email to Campbell's telling them to make sure they bring out a tinned soup as soon as the licensing allows. If you get a chance do the same and then wake me up in 5 years.
Basically a company over here bought the rights to make Campbell's Soup in the UK. A group called Premier foods (you may have heard of some of their licensed brands, Mr Kipling, Hovis, Birds, Oxo, Crosse & Blackwell, Angel Delight, SunPat, Sunblest, Smash, Lyod Grossman, Ambrosia, Bisto... etc etc etc.) They bought the rights to make the soup but not the rights to use the brand. So they make Campbell's Soup using the Campbell's Soup recipe, but can't call it Campbell's Soup - hence the rebrand to Bachelors Soup (or Erin Soup in Ireland.)
Still with me?
Meanwhile in the US they still have good old original Campbell's Soup, by the same recipe, in the same tins as they always had. They just can't sell it in the UK - well, not for another 5 years at least when Premier's exclusive license to make it in the UK runs out.
So why am I confused? Well, I've just been shopping and found a Campbell's logo at the end of aisle 30 along with an "introductory offer" It turns out that, while Bachelors have the license to make the tinned condensed soup, it doesn't cover instant or dried versions. So a company up in Leeds, Symingtons, have developed a dried version, got the ok from Campbell's, and have started selling cup soup, simmer soup and (rather confusingly) pasta & sauce and savoury rice. What makes me laugh about this is the remarkable similarity to existing products, (respectively) cup-a-soup, Express Soupfuls, Pasta n' Sauce, and Savoury rice - all made by... guess who. I'm just waiting to hear the annoucement that Campbells will be bringing out Campbell's Supa-Noodles.
So we now have Bachelors making a product that is intrinsically linked to Campbell's. Meanwhile Campbells are bringing out products that have always been best associated with Bachelors... Now can you understand my confusion.
I've just sent an email to Campbell's telling them to make sure they bring out a tinned soup as soon as the licensing allows. If you get a chance do the same and then wake me up in 5 years.
6 comments:
It took me a full minute to understand what you're talking about because to an American, a tin is something Christmas cookies come in. I was like, a tin? Soup in a tin? Huh.
Then I realized you meant CAN. Canned soup.
Apparently the whole Campbell thing is more complex than either of us thought. :-)
Christmas cookies?
Everything about anything called Campbell is always more complex than it appears - trust me.
christ almighty, man! i had to take a zoloft just to get through that post!
but i still love you: happy valentine's day!
thanks - as always your support is appreciated
Hope our Christmas present dulled the pain :)
Ironically... no, I think i mean coincidentally - Coincidentally I drank some of the new Campbell's Cup a Soup from that very mug yesterday. No - actually 'ironically' works there. I'll stick with ironically.
I very nearly took a photo to post here but some people already think I'm verging on the obsessive.
For those lost some time ago, the present was a mug in the form of a vintage Campbell's Soup Can (see Angela? I'm learning - awesome teacher that you are)
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