Executive Out

Campbell’s fired an executive after he allegedly said the company’s soup is “highly processed food” for “poor people.”

Context

New Jersey-based Campbell’s is one of the US’ largest canned-soup sellers, offering staple soups for $1-$2 a can.

The new comments emerged during a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by Campbell’s IT staffer Robert Garza, who sued after being let go for reporting allegedly racist statements made by the company’s Vice President of IT, Martin Bally.

Comments

Amid the lawsuit, Garza revealed that he secretly recorded Bally as calling Campbell’s soup “highly processed food” for “poor people.”

Garza also allegedly documented Bally as calling Indians “idiots” and saying that he didn’t like working with them. Garza has claimed that when he reported the statements, he was fired.

PR Crisis

The situation has triggered a PR crisis for Campbell’s, with the company saying, “Campbell’s soups are made with real chicken. Period.”

The company put Bally on leave and then fired him. It also called the comments “unacceptable,” yet said, “Keep in mind, the alleged comments heard on the audio were made by a person in IT, who has nothing to do with how we make our food.”

Campbell’s also released a “fact sheet” that it says proves its chicken isn’t 3D-printed, lab-grown, or bioengineered.