SpaghettiOs is an American brand of canned ring-shaped pasta in tomato sauce.[1] It is marketed to parents as "less messy" than regular spaghetti. More than 150 million cans of SpaghettiOs are sold each year.[2] They are sold in tomato sauce and with additions including meatballs, pieces of processed meat resembling hot dog slices, beef-filled ravioli, and calcium-fortified spaghetti.
While SpaghettiOs is a trade name, the equivalent prepared dish made by various manufacturers is available in many countries[3] as 'spaghetti hoops', 'spaghetti loops', or 'spaghetti rings'.
History
Canned spaghetti—short lengths in tomato sauce—was available long before rings were introduced.[4] Ring-shaped canned pasta was introduced in 1965 by the Campbell Soup Company under the Franco-American brand, by marketing manager Donald Goerke, nicknamed "the Daddy-O of SpaghettiOs",[5] as a pasta dish that could be eaten without mess.[5][2] Other shapes considered included cowboys, Indians, astronauts, stars, and sports-themed shapes.[2] Goerke created over 100 products during his 35 years with Campbell, including the Chunky line of soups.[2][6] SpaghettiOs were introduced nationally without test marketing[6] and with television advertising using the tag line "the neat round spaghetti you can eat with a spoon" and the jingle "Uh-Oh! SpaghettiOs" (these six notes are based on the earlier "Franco-American" jingle[citation needed]) sung by Jimmie Rodgers (loosely based on his 1950s song "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again"[citation needed]).[2] Other companies rapidly produced their own spaghetti hoops.[4]
Campbell's launched Spicy Original SpaghettiOs featuring Frank's RedHot in 2023, designed to appeal to millennials, calling it a "hot, more mature twist on a classic offering that our adult consumers grew up enjoying" according to one company executive. Public reaction to the product was mostly negative. [7] One reviewer found the product mild, but ill-suited for younger children, also noting how red it was, compared to the original product. [8]
In June 2010, Campbell recalled 15 million lbs (6.8 million kg) of SpaghettiOs with Meatballs (all that had been produced since December 2008 minus the large fraction that had already been consumed)[10] due to the malfunction of a cooker at one of the company's Texas plants.[11] No reports of illnesses associated with the product and no customer complaints were recorded at the time of the recall.[10]
Controversial Pearl Harbor tweet
On December 7, 2013, the 72nd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, SpaghettiOs' Twitter account posted a picture of a smiling cartoon SpaghettiO holding the U.S. flag and captioned, "Take a moment to remember #PearlHarbor with us." The posting was met with criticism by users, who found the tweet to be disrespectful to those who were affected by the attack. The post also quickly spawned parodies, as other users such as comedian Patton Oswalt edited the cartoon SpaghettiO into photos of other national tragedies such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy, 9/11, the Hindenburg disaster, the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, and the sinking of the Titanic. SpaghettiOs quickly removed the tweet in question and apologized for any offense it may have caused.[12][13]
Actress and comedian Natasha Leggero faced criticism for remarks regarding the tweet during NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly later that month, where she quipped that "it sucks that the only survivors of Pearl Harbor are being mocked by the only food they can still chew." In response, Leggero remarked that "the amazing courage of American veterans and specifically those who survived Pearl Harbor is [not] in any way diminished by a comedian making a joke about dentures on television".[14][15][16]
^Martin, Heather (April 12, 2023). "I tried Frank's RedHot SpaghettiOs, the grown-up version of a childhood favorite". Today.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2024. Retrieved March 21, 2024. How spicy are they? If you rarely eat spicy food, you might call it moderate, and it's probably too spicy for a lot of smaller children. If you feel cheated when your lips don't burn for half an hour after dinner, though, you'll call them mild. Although I often eat three-alarm chili, I think just the one alarm is appropriate for something so grounded in cozy nostalgia. Since Frank's first two ingredients are vinegar and cayenne, there's a lilting acidity right up front, but not overdone. It's a lovely, sparkly brightness layered over the familiar flavor, like fireflies reflected in the river on a summer night.
