These were the Sphinxian riddles that plagued the mind of Campbell's Soup President and CEO Denise Morrison when she stepped up to the plate with her giant soup spoon a year ago. Bent on redefining Campbell's "U.S. soup strategy," she and her soup-minded team began looking outside of the iconic red and white can.
Her mind, like many of ours, went to food trucks for inspiration. The younger generation of Americans all seem to enjoy these weird mobile restaurants, so she sent her flying monkeys out to Austin, Portland and San Francisco to observe the hipsters in their natural habitats.
After days of market research, they returned to the Campbell's headquarters in Camden, New Jersey, with ideas for exotic flavor combinations that seemed to appeal to these young, adventurous, hair-doed types that were lacking from their demographic.
That's why the newest offering from Campbell's will be a Campbell's Go! Soup line with pictures of excited young people in plastic glasses exclaiming soup names like "Chicken & Quinoa with Poblano Chiles" and "Golden Lentil with Madras Curry."
You have to admit the new flavors are way more promising than the bland casserole staples like "Cream of Asparagus" and hearty favorites like "Sirloin Burger with Country Vegetables." But does it feel like Campbell's is maybe trying a little too hard — a little too Go-Gurt-y — to appeal to our demographic?
While these new Go! Soups might be inspired by Austin, they're probably not going to be marketed to us. People of food-trucked cities know that a boil-in-the-bag microwave soup will never match the freshness of a superior Wheatsville or Whole Foods soup offering.
Plus, we've already got the food trucks, so problem solved.
