General Mills’ Progresso brand is rolling out a hard candy that tastes like its soups in a limited-time offering:
Progresso Soup Drops:
Lozenges that possess the flavor of chicken noodle soup.
Available online for $2.49 every Thursday and packaged inside cans of Progresso soup while supplies last.
The appeal — according to Progresso — is “soup you can suck on.”
According to the press release, the candy contains the tastes of broth, savory vegetables, chicken, egg noodles, and parsley.
I know. It sounds horrible. No one asked for this.
And the product has been laughed at by internet critics, late-night hosts, foodies, news outlets, and even some sales and marketing experts.
But here’s the thing:
When was the last time Progresso was in the news? When was the last time the brand name “Progresso ” was spoken on television by the likes of Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon? When was the last time USA Today, Fast Company, and major metropolitan newspapers wrote about Progresso soup?
When was the last time Progresso was in the zeitgeist?
There’s a reason why Progresso has produced this product as a limited-time offering:
It’s not about the product. It’s about the attention Progresso is receiving by releasing the product. It’s about the number of media impressions, the branding, the online chatter, and the free press this product has created.
And it’s working. Just try to purchase Progresso Soup Drops on Thursday on their dedicated website.
Last week, they sold out in less than five minutes.
Google Trends shows that since launching this product, mentions of “Progresso Soup” online have quintupled.
People may ultimately laugh at this product launch and even despise the product itself, but I am almost certain Progresso soup sales will spike due to the brand awareness these drops generate. And if their Soup Drops are being sold for a profit—and they almost certainly are—Progresso has essentially created a marketing campaign that pays for itself.
Maybe even turn a profit.
Companies do dumb things every day. Sometimes, a company’s management team can act in ways that seem nonsensical and foolish.
But sometimes, their seeming stupidity is genius in disguise.
