I remember these Campbell’s Manhandlers commercials mostly because of that jingle. It had that big, rugged sound that immediately got your attention:
“How do you handle a hungry man? The Manhandlers!”
And now I know why it sounded so familiar — it was sung by Frankie Laine, the same voice behind Rawhide. Campbell’s deliberately wanted that tough, masculine sound for the campaign.
The idea behind Manhandlers was pretty simple. Campbell’s had several heavier soups with meat, vegetables and potatoes, and they wanted to convince people that soup could be filling enough for a man who had worked hard or, in this commercial, just finished playing soccer.
Instead of inventing a completely new product at first, they grouped some of those heartier soups together under the Manhandlers name and built an entire campaign around the idea of feeding hungry men.
Looking at it today, the advertising is very 1970s. Everything is aimed at being big, hearty and masculine. But the interesting part is that the campaign was successful enough that it helped point Campbell’s toward what would later become Chunky Soup.
And that jingle really did its job. Even after all these years, once you hear those first few words, it comes right back.
Do you remember the Manhandlers commercials — and which Campbell’s soup was always in your house?
Do you like this personality?
