Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Got Its Name From a Flubbed Radio Show Line

It was originally called 'Noodle with Chicken'

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Food companies usually have the R&D department to thank for a product that wins its way into American stomachs. In the case of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle soup, the thanks must also go a radio actor named Freeman Gosden.

Don’t know him? Well, if you lived in prewar America, you would. Gosden voiced the Amos character on Amos ’n’ Andy, one of the most popular radio shows of the 1930s. Broadcast from WMAQ in Chicago, the program—a minstrel show that subsequent generations would later realize was in poor taste—had no shortage of sponsors.

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This story first appeared in the Jan. 14, 2019, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.