There’s more to Campbell’s than just the soup. Over the last 150 years, our soups have moved from the kitchen cupboard and out into popular culture.
Everyone knows that our iconic can appeared on canvas thanks to Andy Warhol, that’s not all. Here are 10 places you’ll spot Campbell’s Soup in popular culture.
Campbell’s Soup at the Movies
1. The Hurricane (1999)
Imprisoned for twenty years for a crime he didn’t commit, one of Denzel Washington’s few comforts is a can of Campbell’s Soup.
2. Matilda (1996)
Though not a fan of Campbell’s Soup herself, you’ll spot a can in the kitchen of the Wormwood home.
3. Minions (2015)
Herb Overkill, the main villain’s husband, looks at Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans and says, “Someone expressed my love of soup in painting form.”
On TV
Running for 30 seasons and existing on our screens non-stop since 1989, The Simpsons could be considered the Campbell’s Soup of television. Over the years, the show has made many pop-culture references.
4. The Simpsons
In Season 14, episode 6, Police Chief Wiggum takes the Simpson family to “Campbell’s Chunky Soup Maximum Security Prison.”
5. And perhaps more memorably…
…in the episode “Mom & Pop Art” in Season 10, Homer visits the Springsonian Museum in search of inspiration for his art. He falls asleep and dreams about Campbell’s Soup cans.
6. Music
Campbell’s Soup has also had an impact on music. Most notably in the work of De La Soul. Most people know De La Soul for The Magic Number and their work with Gorillaz on Feel Good Inc.
On their critical smash hit debut album, 3 Feet High And Rising, you’ll find a reference to Campbell’s Soup on the track Eye Know.
7. Baseball
For almost 20 years, the Rutgers-Camden college baseball team made the 6,425-seat Campbell’s Field ballpark their home. Dubbed “Ballpark of the Year” in 2004, Campbell’s Field was also the place where the United States national rugby league team qualified for their world cup debut.
The park, located at Delaware and Penn Avenues on the Camden Waterfront, featured a commanding view of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge connecting Camden with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River.
8. The infamous art
In 1962, artist Andy Warhol took the familiar look of our iconic soup can and integrated it into a series of pop art silkscreens, a theme he would return to off and on again through the 1960s and 1970s.
At first, the cans were accurate representations, but as his series progressed, they became more surrealistic, with Warhol experimenting with negative-reversed colour schemes and other varied techniques.
The silkscreens themselves have become iconic pieces of pop art, with one in particular, Small Torn Campbell Soup Can (Pepper Pot) (1962), commanding a price of $11.8 million at auction in 2006.
9. The Souper Dress
The explosion of the pop art movement impacted all areas of society, including fashion. “The Souper Dress”, cut into an iconic 60s look, was made from paper of all things.
The Souper Dress led the way in mainstream fashion for cheap Pop art printed dresses in the late sixties. After wartime austerity, when clothes were sturdy luxuries created to last, the innovation of the paper dress changed how women thought about shopping.
It tapped into progressive design ideas about the disposability of consumer products. You could literally wear a paper dress and then throw it away.
10. Gadgets and more
After over 150 years in the public eye, our brand has become an icon of today’s culture. As such, you can find our soup on t-shirts, headphones, phone cases and even home décor.
But, wherever you find Campbell’s Soup, we never forget what matters – Real food that matters for life’s moments. Check out our latest recipes and get inspired to create your own iconic dish.