In 1962, Andy Warhol raised the humble Campbell's soup can to an iconic level. But if you walk into a grocery store this afternoon, you will no longer see the same label. It's true: for better or worse, Campbell's is among the many food brands trying to breathe new life into their old design.
But unlike the Tropicana fiasco, I am not so much bothered by this new look. I appreciate the company's allegiance to their elegant script logo and the recognizable gold typography at the bottom. As much as I may miss the vintage appeal of the old design (fleur-de-lis included) , this new version retains much of what I loved about the old can. And I can totally understand why Campbell's went in this direction. As much as designers and non-designers alike may appreciate the classic look, sometimes you just don't want your food to look "vintage." Vintage can just feel, well, old— and the last thing you want is for your food to feel old. Even canned products need to subtly imply "I'm fresh" as opposed to "I've been sitting on a shelf for years."
So although I can get behind this new look, it still feels like the end of an era. Weigh in and pay your respect to Warhol in the comments. ••••
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
New Soup for You
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comment:
I feel like this is a trend, but I'm not minding it. I saw an ad for canned corn the other day but instead of the packaging being shown the shape of the can was made up by fantastic looking corn kernels. I think advertisers are trying to make people feel like they are getting real, good, fresh ingredients. I'll still buy the cheap store brand version though...hey, it's good, costs half as much and has the same ingredients!
Post a Comment