I had almost forgotten about that whole “mold in my broth” incident. To refresh your memory, I opened a box of chicken broth, and it contained a huge, inch-thick sheet of mold across the surface of the broth. It was SO gross. I contacted Campbells/Swanson (didn’t know they were the same company until I was on hold, listening to, “Mmm, Mmm, Good!” in muzak form) and they apologized, and said they’d send me some coupons the next day. The end. I haven’t even thought about it, until I received a comment this morning on that blog post:
Everyone look at the container picture toward the bottom. There is a large slice in the container that was almost certainly caused by a stock boy slicing the shrink wrap off the entire case. This would cause oxygen to get into container which would then produce mold. This can happen to any carton variety broth.
Huh! Well, maybe that was the case. I decided to look at the original images and zoom in on the area she mentioned. And you know what? I think she’s right. I do see what may be a slice in the packaging. At first, I thought it was just a wrinkle, but it may in fact be a slice. I figured the packaging must have been compromised in some way. That makes perfect sense. Good sleuthing, there!
Then I got curious as to why this random person was so interested in what happened, and I took a closer look at their email. Superman@hotmail.com Really? Really? Your email address is superman@hotmail.com? Not superman23475? It seemed fishy. So I looked at the IP address. Aha! My mystery problem solving reader is someone affiliated with Campbells. And they didn’t get here by accident, either – they got here via a very specific Google search.
Uhhhh…why the game playing? Why is Campbells hiding behind a fake email address, leaving me a comment anonymously? Is THAT how they handle bad press? I never said Campbells/Swansons was at fault for anything – why all the blatant ass-covering? Why is it SO HARD for someone from Campbells/Swanson to just say, “Yeah, that was GROSS! It almost certainly happened after it left our warehouse, but we feel bad that your dinner was ruined, so here’s a coupon, because we’re cool like that.” Just, y’know, some ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. There’s no need to be underhanded and slimy about it. What the hell, man?
And I never got my coupons!
Laura, also known as LaLaGirl, is the mother of a teenager and two young sets of twins. She's happily married, loves living in Colorado, and writes almost daily about married life, raising multiples, and parenting a child with autism. In addition to playing Barbies and pretending to eat plastic food all day, Laura spends most of her time folding clean laundry, obsessing about the amount of sugar her kids eat, and vacuuming up Polly Pocket accessories. She's obsessed with Yo Gabba Gabba, red wine, and Family Guy. Questions? Just ask. Care to Subscribe by Email?
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Joelle
October 16th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
ok, seriously. How tacky. That’s disappointing from such a longstanding American brand. Shame on you, Campbell’s.
Tracie
October 16th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
It’s pretty silly that they thought they could even BE anonymous about it while posting from a Campbell’s IP address. It kind of offends me that they clearly must think we (us mom bloggers) are too stupid to figure it out…
Nini
October 16th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Ugh, that is messed up on so many levels!!
Donna
October 16th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Heh…amateurs…don’t know they are dealing with the original internet sleuthmaster…
No Reimer Reason
October 16th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
I complained about phone book delivery (how I wish it was opt-in only rather than having to jump through hoops to opt out) on my little no-name blog and got several comments right away from invalid emails too. And the one person who did leave a valid email was affiliated with Yellow Book. Since these people weren’t regular readers or the type of people who would normally read my blog, I am convinced that they search these types of things out. So silly. Looks like it happens with other companies too. Seriously – how stupid do they think we are?
Lisa
October 16th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
What bothers me more is that did they actually think that, in this tech savvy world, that their IP address couldn’t be found out – furthermore that when people find out who they are, that they won’t call them out?!?!?!?!
this is just so wrong on so many levels. and borderlines unethical business practices IMHO. Kinda makes me want to stop buying products/stop using services of companies who do this.
gretchen from lifenut
October 16th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
How annoying and naive of them to try something like that! It also seems somewhat underhanded to try to explain away a problem by posing as someone who just happened along…that’s BS.
I recently called Proctor and Gamble to complain my Dawn dish detergent wasn’t sudsy (I like my bubbles and I’m such a hausfrau) and I had coupons within 3-4 days.
Amy
October 16th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
That is just unspeakably NASTY first of all! Second, I think you should broadcast this everywhere you can find a place to broadcast it so they get some FABULOUS MADvertising! That just stinks that a company that is a household name would stoop to such petty levels to just cover their own backsides instead of just making it right with a customer. Companies this day and time have absolutely NO idea what good customer service is. What the heck happened to “the customer is always right?!?!?!”
Kim
October 16th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
what a bunch of sneaks! shame on you Campbells!
Noelle
October 16th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
OMG! That’s is crazy! You would think a company like that would have at least have the balls to own their mistake. It’s sooooo DISGUSTING what happened and has made me re-think getting their products because I now vomit a little every time I think of your last blog on it. lol But really, I do!
Noelle
October 16th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Oh yeah and I’m with Amy…. broadcast that nastiness!!! Screw balloon hoax’s and let people know what might be in their chicken broth! I’d rather know that as a consumer.
Christy
October 16th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Laura, they fear you! They know you have many followers who will steer clear of the chicken broth.
Hey Campbell’s! You are lame!
Mary
October 17th, 2009 at 6:32 am
How slimy. Just like the soup!
They clearly had *no* idea who they were messing with. And yes, how incredibly naive to not think you could sniff them out!
Colleen
October 17th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Time to call the Consumer Help dept. at your local news station – this is worthy of an investigation…or at least worthy of giving Campbell’s and their sleazy tactics a hard time.
Britt
October 17th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Gross! Their behavior is worse than mold in your broth!