by Tian

Last night, or more like 2 AM in the morning, I trudged up the stairs to begin hunting for my late-night-fourth-meal. Speaking wise, I don’t have much experience with cooking. Previous attempts of cooking edible substances have left my pan with an assortment of questionable substances (Scrambled Egg Surprise… shudder). So, learning from my previous failures, I opted for an easier, more comforting solution.

Canned soups, as with some other ready-made meals, have always had a bad rep for an assortment of reasons – sodium levels, MSG, questionable taste. But, like most, until I can afford to binge money at a chic café or afford three hours and a blender explosion, I’ll have to get my TLC comfort food from a different source. So today, I stopped by my local Target and listed down all the canned soup in the grocery aisle. Finally, with this automatic Brand Passion Index (BPI) from Netbase technology, we can see who’s really got grandma’s soup packed up in a can.

In this graphic, the amount of buzz on a brand is determined by the size of the bubble, while the placement of the bubble determines its sentiment and passion intensity. 42 refers to Manischewitz.

The results of the sentiment analysis show that three giants (Campbell’s, Amy’s, Swanson) dominate the buzz. But the attention definitely qualifies as a notoriety considering their similar levels of dislike (and probably sodium levels). Swanson gained the most mention with the highest passion intensity (55) and second lowest net sentiment (32). Mining online consumer’s feelings towards Swanson also was one of the most annoying things to analyze, especially since half the results on the first try turned out to be about people with the last name Swanson.

“Why we picked this: This Swanson product is a perfect example of a misleading “No MSG” label, hoping to snare consumers who wish to avoid this neurotoxic “flavor enhancer.”

“I make meatless veg soup. Ya I use swanson chicken broth. [It] is high in salt.”

What also seems to be worth a mention is that even with Campbell’s overall low rating, online consumers rave over Campbell’s Chunky Soup, making up 48.4% of the overall positive sentiment. Popular varieties include their Chunky Chicken Noodle and Chunky Beef Stew.

“Startin’ my day with a nice bowl of Campbell’s chunky soup! #Yes #Hungry :).”

“Nothing like some good old Campbell’s chunky chicken noodle soup. #classic”

But the soup that stood above the rest is Wolfgang Puck’s line of organic soups. This celebrity chef, who has appeared on shows such as Hell’s Kitchen and Iron Chef, remains the only producer to make soups good enough for the love corner on the brand passion index. With a score of 66 net sentiment and 59 passion intensity, it’s quite sad that the soup brand doesn’t gain as much recognition as the three giants.

“@rvnhawk Health Valley Organic. MEH. As is Amy’s. Glen Muir and Wolfgang Puck are quite good though, in canned soups.”

“The broth is darker and richer than other canned chicken noodle soups I’ve tried.”

“Recently I’ve conducted a taste test of all the “better than Campbell’s” tomato soups and this is head and shoulders above the rest. […] This is soup like you wish Mom made.”

So regardless of the divide between the more and less liked canned soup, it’s up to the consumers to make the final decision on what’s barely edible and what’s delectable. I personally will continue to remain loyal to my canned soups, though I wonder what Wolfgang Puck would think of these…