Random coincidence? I haven't bought Campbell's Soup in four or five years...
But on Sunday, before I even read this article, I bought five cans of Vegetarian Vegetable (the Alphabet kind).
From the Chicago Tribune:
Guess what business is doing "M'm! M'm! Good!" amid the uncertainty in the stock market?
On Sept. 29, during the biggest one-day point decline in the history of the Dow Jones industrial average, the only company in the Standard & Poor's 500 to post a gain was the Campbell Soup Co.
That day, Campbell's stock rose 12 cents, to close at $37.75, and it held much of its value even as the Dow suffered its worst week ever this week. Campbell's stock closed Friday at a relatively stable $34.12.
Nancy Koehn, a business administration professor at Harvard Business School, is hardly surprised.
"When there's anxiety, people are going to do things to calm themselves. Soup is a very calming food," she says.
Indeed, the company saw a similar rise in sales after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"There is an emotional component," agrees Anthony Sanzio, a Campbell's spokesman. "When times are uncertain we seek out the familiar."
Campbell's has been quick to take advantage. An ad campaign launched this month calls the soups the "original dollar menu." In November, coupons will describe the soup as part of a "wallet-friendly meal your family will love."
"Home, safety, stability and mom," are the images associated with Campbell's, Koehn says. Eating a bowl of soup, she adds, is "better than taking anti-anxiety medication."
As long as you're not eating it in a soup kitchen.
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