In 1964, as Warhol's star continued to rise, MacFarland decided to make his pleasure known to the artist by way of the following letter. Some complimentary cans of soup soon followed.
Transcript follows.
Recommended reading: The Philosophy of Andy Warhol : (From A to B and Back Again).
Transcript
Campbell SOUP Company
CAMDEN 1, NEW JERSEY
May 19, 1964
Mr. A. Warhol
1342 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York
Dear Mr. Warhol:
I have followed your career for some time. Your work has evoked a great deal of interest here at Campbell Soup Company for obvious reasons.
At one time I had hoped to be able to acquire one of your Campbell Soup label paintings - but I'm afraid you have gotten much too expensive for me.
I did want to tell you, however, that we admired your work and I have since learned that you like Tomato Soup. I am taking the liberty of having a couple of cases of our Tomato Soup delivered to you at this address.
We wish you continued success and good fortune.
Cordially,
(Signed, 'William P. MacFarland')
William P. MacFarland
Product Marketing Manager
30 comments:
I wonder what Mr. Warhol's response was.
Additionally, it can never be a bad thing to know someone in the soup racket.
Rather sad that these days the Campbell Soup Company, which I imagine is now a subsidiary of Goliath, Inc., would probably sue Warhol into a smoking hole in the Earth for copyright / trademark infringement.
Wonder if Mr. Warhol's paintings were the inspiration for Mr. Al Yeganeh's chosen line of work. (Mr. Yeganeh is the inspiration for TV's "Soup Nazi" character from "Seinfeld" television program.)
Campbell's Soup Company is owned by... Campbell's Soup Company. And as someone in the consumer packaged goods industry that deals with these matters, I can attest that most firm's first instinct isn't to sue. We love passion around our brands. It's only when there's been damage to the brand or irresponsible use of a product that CPG firms typically sue.
"It's only when there's been damage to the brand or irresponsible use of a product that CPG firms typically sue."
*COUGH COUGH* Bullshit *COUGH*
What a fantastic letter! And I am SOO in love with the letterhead used - what I wouldn't give to get my hands on a couple pieces of that gorgeous lithographed paper.... :D
"*COUGH COUGH* Bullshit *COUGH*"
No, she's actually right. If the brand is portrayed in a positive light then they have no reason to sue, it's free publicity. Especially in markets that they probably have problems actually advertising to.
According to Google, Bill McFarland is now an aging Senior Vice-President at Campbell Soup. It would be difficult to imagine his view flipped to being a litigation-happy art hater.
"I don't think so" is probably one of those hipster types who like to revolt against "corporate America" without reason just because it's "cool" to do so much like it's "cool" to wear jeans so tight that one has to lose all healthy weight to achieve this goal while rocking a beanie and messy hair even in 100 degree weather smoking himself to cool, cool death.
Have faith in people, will ya? This is a nice letter.
Possibly the culmination of Andy's work.
Am I the only one who looks up the address on google maps whenever it's printed in the letters? I'm always so curios to check out the house the recipient lived in.
..."I'm afraid you have gotten much too expensive for me..."I am taking the liberty of having a couple of cases of our Tomato Soup delivered to you at this address".
e.g. Can you throw me a frickin bone, Mr. Warhole? H
What was the reason for Mr. Warhol to promote condensed soups in his painting?
So did the dude get a print or what?
Yeah I agree with a couple people above. This seems like a very transparent attempt to be given a free print.
It's a nice letter, but it definitely seems to be a plea for free art.
Not sure how it works in the US, but in the UK, houses that famous people lived in generally have a blue plaque outside that denotes who lived there and when.
Just checked on Google Maps too as Megaman mentioned. Surprised there isn't anything on that building that denotes that Warhol once lived there.
'Surprised there isn't anything on that building that denotes that Warhol once lived there.'
That's because in NYC there'd be one of those on every building.
"What was the reason for Mr. Warhol to promote condensed soups in his painting?"
"Muriel Latow...told Warhol that he should paint "Something you see every day and something that everybody would recognize. Something like a can of Campbell's Soup." Ted Carey, who was there at the time, said that Warhol responded by exclaiming: "Oh that sounds fabulous." According to Carey, Warhol went to a supermarket the following day and bought a case of "all the soups", which Carey said he saw when he stopped by Warhol's apartment the next day. When the art critic G.R. Swenson asked Warhol in 1963 why he painted soup cans, the artist replied, "I used to drink it, I used to have the same lunch every day, for twenty years.""
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campbell's_Soup_Cans
This exhibit was one of the major turning points pulling the art world away from heady Abstract Expressionism and into fun, irreverent Pop Art. He wasn't promoting the Campbell's brand, everything with Warhol was pretty much "just because."
I wonder as a vice president, Mr. McFarland has amassed enough money to invest in a soup label piece by Mr. Warhol.
Kind of sad to see all the carping here. It's just a letter, people, and an apparently sincere one at that.
Relax, enjoy the post and move on.
I think it's pretty awesome, though it also makes me sad about today, as it has some others.
Despite what some have said here, corporations definitely do go after their fans - it's seen as part of defending their trademarks. For example, take Coca-cola's response to a fan site dedicated to showing off collections of Coke merch: http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-236373.html
Just sayin'.
The Softer Side says "Aaaah! I hope Andy sent him a print."
The Cynic says "I bet he was hoping for a letter back saying how much Andy enjoyed Campbell's Soup that they could use for their advertising."
The interesting question here is whether the media exposure generated by Warhol's paintings translated into increased sales of Campbell's soup. As product manager, Mr. McFarland could be expected to be grateful for such an outcome regardless of his putative interest in cadging a print.
Just a couple of clariying points - the first soup can paintings combined silkscreen printing with hand painted elements - the lettering of the individual variety for example - so each was a unique painting - there was no edition of them. And from all accounts the initial public reaction to the the Ferus Gallery show was almost nil - it only became a significant cultural moment in retrospect. By the time this letter was written, Warhol had already had a solo show at the prestigious Leo Castelli Gallery in NYC, among other East Coast venues. Great site. Corporations do suck.
Wonder what constituted "much too expensive" 46 years ago...
While I agree about Campbell's Soup (which owns Dove Chocolate), Ford Motor Co. has sued the Mustang owners' club for using a picture of the Mustang on their website. What were they supposed to use a picture of?
Thanks for this post. It shows that the importance of honing in on one's skills. If you don't quit, someone will eventually notice and be willing to pay whatever you ask for. It is the satisfaction that comes to all who conquer self and force life to pay whatever is asked.
"That's because in NYC there'd be one of those on every building."
One one hand, I think that having those would be a decent way to preserve history, on the other hand, the tourist traffic would be even slower because of it.
"One one hand, I think that having those would be a decent way to preserve history, on the other hand, the tourist traffic would be even slower because of it."
New York isn't really that cool, or special. London is better.
Dove Chocolate is owned by Mars not Campbells, silly.
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