A Letter to Campbell Soup

Have you ever just been outraged on account of a product’s ‘New and Improved’ label? Or just disagreed that the advertised change indeed rendered the product ‘improved’? Rummaging through a few old computer files I came across this letter I wrote to Campbell Soup some years ago. There were no kids in my life then which explains how I had the spare time to write the letter.

The catalyst was that Campbell had advertised that it’s Chicken Noodle Soup was improved due to the fact that it now had ‘33% more chicken meat’. I disagreed as to whether this ranked as a product improvement.

## S. Oak Knoll Ave.

Pasadena, CA 91101

CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY
Camden, N.J. 08103-1701

April 16, ‘97

Customer Service,


I have recently purchased and consumed a can of your Chicken Noodle soup. I have enjoyed your soups for many years, but I had some concerns when I observed the ‘33% more chicken meat’ emblazoned on the can. My concern was not that I couldn’t take down an entire tin of the condensed concoction, but rather that the quality of the chicken would remain not conducive to ingestion.

In short, the updated formula necessitates that I must now remove 33% more chicken meat prior to eating the soup and tasty noodles. Hoping the next product variation may involve an enhanced chicken noodle soup boasting ‘33% less chicken meat’ or ‘33% better quality chicken than before’.

Sincerely,

Klem



Their chicken soup, I do enjoy, but the quality of the ‘chicken meat’ has seemed to me more like skin, fat, ligaments, and entrails as opposed to actual meat. I usually pick much of the stuff out, not eat it.

The letter yielded no response from Campbell.
-klem