1 00:00:01,917 --> 00:00:04,042 [dramatic music] 2 00:00:04,042 --> 00:00:05,375 - [Narrator] It's one of America's most popular 3 00:00:05,375 --> 00:00:07,875 and endlessly varied food staples. 4 00:00:07,875 --> 00:00:09,417 - Americans can identify 5 00:00:09,417 --> 00:00:11,292 a thousand different shapes of pasta. 6 00:00:11,292 --> 00:00:13,125 They are making sauces from scratch, 7 00:00:13,125 --> 00:00:15,333 making noodles from scratch. 8 00:00:15,333 --> 00:00:17,333 - [Narrator] Today, US households buy 9 00:00:17,333 --> 00:00:20,750 $2.4 billion worth of jarred tomato sauce, 10 00:00:20,750 --> 00:00:25,667 and consume nearly 6 billion pounds of pasta each year. 11 00:00:25,667 --> 00:00:27,708 - Pasta's an amazing food stuff. 12 00:00:27,708 --> 00:00:29,333 (dramatic music continues) 13 00:00:29,333 --> 00:00:32,583 It's very inexpensive to make. It's pretty much limitless. 14 00:00:34,792 --> 00:00:37,625 - [Narrator] And Italian food can be found in every 15 00:00:37,625 --> 00:00:39,208 corner of the country. 16 00:00:39,208 --> 00:00:41,083 - In malls and airports, 17 00:00:41,083 --> 00:00:42,917 and wherever you can get a bite to eat, 18 00:00:42,917 --> 00:00:44,917 you can now usually get Italian food. 19 00:00:44,917 --> 00:00:46,250 - If you could have bought stock 20 00:00:46,250 --> 00:00:48,167 in just Italian restaurants, 21 00:00:48,167 --> 00:00:51,333 you would've been a millionaire many times over. 22 00:00:51,333 --> 00:00:53,208 - [Narrator] But just 60 years ago, 23 00:00:53,208 --> 00:00:56,667 Italian food was barely known in the United States. 24 00:00:56,667 --> 00:00:58,125 - In the 1960s, 25 00:00:58,125 --> 00:01:00,083 Americans really didn't have a relationship with pasta. 26 00:01:00,083 --> 00:01:03,250 They had no idea what al dente meant. 27 00:01:03,250 --> 00:01:07,083 - If people only knew what good tomato sauce tastes like. 28 00:01:07,083 --> 00:01:08,917 They don't even know what they're missing! 29 00:01:08,917 --> 00:01:10,458 - [Narrator] It took bold entrepreneurs 30 00:01:10,458 --> 00:01:14,167 working at two different food empires to change that. 31 00:01:14,167 --> 00:01:17,375 - I'll give you carte blanche. Don't screw it up. 32 00:01:17,375 --> 00:01:19,625 - Develop it on your own in secret. 33 00:01:19,625 --> 00:01:22,083 - [Narrator] Creating a whole new food genre 34 00:01:22,083 --> 00:01:24,208 with an all American twist. 35 00:01:24,208 --> 00:01:26,083 - Real Alfredo sauce doesn't have any cream in it, 36 00:01:26,083 --> 00:01:27,708 but if you ask any American today, 37 00:01:27,708 --> 00:01:29,875 they would most likely tell you that it does. 38 00:01:29,875 --> 00:01:31,000 - The most American thing 39 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,750 you can add to a tomato sauce is sugar. 40 00:01:33,750 --> 00:01:35,875 - Can we go even sweeter? 41 00:01:35,875 --> 00:01:38,667 - The chef said this is sounding like a dessert sauce. 42 00:01:38,667 --> 00:01:42,042 It wasn't Italian food. It was Italian-American food. 43 00:01:43,333 --> 00:01:45,875 - [Narrator] With nearly 50,000 Italian restaurants 44 00:01:45,875 --> 00:01:48,042 operating across the United States. 45 00:01:48,042 --> 00:01:50,208 - We were competing against every authentic 46 00:01:50,208 --> 00:01:53,708 Italian restaurant in every town in America, 47 00:01:53,708 --> 00:01:57,625 and we weren't authentic Italian. And we knew it. 48 00:01:57,625 --> 00:01:59,875 - [Narrator] Over a 150 million cans of SpaghettiOs 49 00:01:59,875 --> 00:02:01,625 sold each year. 50 00:02:01,625 --> 00:02:02,792 - Kids love it. 51 00:02:02,792 --> 00:02:06,333 Moms love it. SpaghettiOs is a massive hit. 52 00:02:07,583 --> 00:02:11,542 - [Narrator] And 14.8 billion dollars in pasta sauce sales. 53 00:02:11,542 --> 00:02:14,917 - If I was looking at three pasta sauces, 54 00:02:14,917 --> 00:02:18,042 I'm gonna want the one that says, this is authentic. 55 00:02:18,042 --> 00:02:19,625 This is the real deal. Prego. 56 00:02:22,042 --> 00:02:23,542 - [Narrator] Italian- American cuisine 57 00:02:23,542 --> 00:02:26,625 is now a cornerstone in kitchens throughout the nation. 58 00:02:30,292 --> 00:02:32,625 [dramatic music] 59 00:02:50,917 --> 00:02:53,083 It is the early 1960s, 60 00:02:53,083 --> 00:02:55,208 and the food served at American dinner tables 61 00:02:55,208 --> 00:02:58,292 is generally bland and repetitive. 62 00:02:58,292 --> 00:03:00,083 - It was meat, potatoes and vegetables. 63 00:03:00,083 --> 00:03:01,458 - Americans weren't generally 64 00:03:01,458 --> 00:03:03,375 very adventurous with their cooking. 65 00:03:03,375 --> 00:03:05,958 It was a lot of casserole, a lot of meatloaf, 66 00:03:05,958 --> 00:03:07,542 a lot of jello molds. 67 00:03:07,542 --> 00:03:09,708 They'd make a fancy sounding dish like chicken a la king, 68 00:03:09,708 --> 00:03:11,750 but it's really just chicken casserole. 69 00:03:13,792 --> 00:03:15,458 - [Narrator] Although families did eat canned 70 00:03:15,458 --> 00:03:17,792 and boxed pasta like Chef Boyardee 71 00:03:17,792 --> 00:03:20,250 or Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, 72 00:03:20,250 --> 00:03:22,958 adults generally didn't serve these for dinner. 73 00:03:22,958 --> 00:03:25,500 Italian food itself was a novelty. 74 00:03:27,500 --> 00:03:29,583 - There were Italian restaurants, 75 00:03:29,583 --> 00:03:32,083 but they were mostly in major population centers 76 00:03:32,083 --> 00:03:33,208 like New York City where there are 77 00:03:33,208 --> 00:03:34,625 a lot of Italian immigrants. 78 00:03:34,625 --> 00:03:36,458 Most Americans weren't comfortable 79 00:03:36,458 --> 00:03:38,208 trying to make Italian food at home. 80 00:03:38,208 --> 00:03:40,542 - [Narrator] But a new type of Italian cuisine 81 00:03:40,542 --> 00:03:43,500 is about to come from the most unlikely of places. 82 00:03:44,500 --> 00:03:46,667 A century old American company 83 00:03:46,667 --> 00:03:49,958 known for its line of condensed soups. 84 00:03:49,958 --> 00:03:51,125 Campbell's. 85 00:03:51,125 --> 00:03:53,167 - Campbell's was founded in 1869 86 00:03:53,167 --> 00:03:54,792 by a fruit merchant named Joseph Campbell, 87 00:03:54,792 --> 00:03:57,875 and an icebox manufacturer named Abraham Anderson. 88 00:03:57,875 --> 00:04:01,708 - [Narrator] By 1963, the Campbell's Soup Company is run 89 00:04:01,708 --> 00:04:03,875 by a board of directors and has become 90 00:04:03,875 --> 00:04:06,708 a $600 million corporation. 91 00:04:06,708 --> 00:04:08,458 - They were known for Campbell's soups 92 00:04:08,458 --> 00:04:10,167 and for their acquisitions. 93 00:04:10,167 --> 00:04:13,083 So we're talking about Swanson TV Dinners, 94 00:04:13,083 --> 00:04:15,208 juices, and other products. 95 00:04:15,208 --> 00:04:16,500 - [Narrator] None of Campbell's products 96 00:04:16,500 --> 00:04:18,958 have anything to do with Italian food. 97 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:27,792 But an ambitious young manager is about to blaze a new path. 98 00:04:27,792 --> 00:04:30,375 - Donald Goerke first joined the Campbell's Soup Company 99 00:04:30,375 --> 00:04:33,708 in 1955 as an analyst and worked his way up 100 00:04:33,708 --> 00:04:36,833 from marketing analyst to marketing manager. 101 00:04:36,833 --> 00:04:39,417 - So Donald Goerke arrives at Campbell's, 102 00:04:39,417 --> 00:04:41,083 an international company, 103 00:04:41,083 --> 00:04:42,375 great reputation, 104 00:04:42,375 --> 00:04:44,542 but he's coming with really high goals. 105 00:04:44,542 --> 00:04:46,917 He wants to get promoted. He wants to prove himself. 106 00:04:46,917 --> 00:04:50,417 - Don, I've spoken to the team 107 00:04:50,417 --> 00:04:54,917 and we think you're ready to run your own division. 108 00:04:55,625 --> 00:04:57,458 - Thank you. I'd be honored. 109 00:04:57,458 --> 00:04:59,542 - From now on, you'll be overseeing 110 00:04:59,542 --> 00:05:01,875 the Franco-American line. 111 00:05:01,875 --> 00:05:03,375 - Franco-American? 112 00:05:03,375 --> 00:05:05,125 - [Narrator] It's not exactly the promotion 113 00:05:05,125 --> 00:05:08,083 he's been dreaming of. 114 00:05:08,083 --> 00:05:10,333 Franco-American is a small division 115 00:05:10,333 --> 00:05:13,625 under the Campbell's umbrella, and it's struggling. 116 00:05:13,625 --> 00:05:16,583 - Franco-American was a brand of canned spaghetti, 117 00:05:16,583 --> 00:05:18,208 you know, a red sauce. 118 00:05:18,208 --> 00:05:19,708 - Franco-American had sort of become 119 00:05:19,708 --> 00:05:22,708 like the ugly step- sibling of Campbell's, 120 00:05:22,708 --> 00:05:24,625 'cause the spaghetti wasn't selling. 121 00:05:24,625 --> 00:05:27,208 - Nobody's expecting any miracles, 122 00:05:27,208 --> 00:05:29,542 but keep your head down and who knows, 123 00:05:29,542 --> 00:05:31,375 maybe in a few years we'll bring you back 124 00:05:31,375 --> 00:05:32,875 under the Campbell's brand. 125 00:05:33,792 --> 00:05:35,042 Congratulations. 126 00:05:35,042 --> 00:05:35,875 - Thanks. 127 00:05:39,542 --> 00:05:41,708 (light suspenseful music) 128 00:05:41,708 --> 00:05:43,833 - Don Goerke was determined to prove himself. 129 00:05:43,833 --> 00:05:45,083 He'd been handed a dud. 130 00:05:45,083 --> 00:05:46,625 If he could create just one product 131 00:05:46,625 --> 00:05:48,917 that would be a standout hit, 132 00:05:48,917 --> 00:05:52,292 he could go back to the flagship Campbell's division. 133 00:05:52,292 --> 00:05:55,708 - [Narrator] Goerke jumps head first into product research. 134 00:05:55,708 --> 00:05:58,667 - The product's been on the market for like 30 years, 135 00:05:58,667 --> 00:06:00,208 but it's not selling well. 136 00:06:00,208 --> 00:06:01,750 He's looking for a lifeline. 137 00:06:01,750 --> 00:06:03,958 He's looking for any market insight 138 00:06:03,958 --> 00:06:05,708 that he can hang his hat on. 139 00:06:05,708 --> 00:06:08,375 - Hey, yeah, I got the market research. 140 00:06:08,375 --> 00:06:10,250 Listen, listen, I think there's been 141 00:06:10,250 --> 00:06:13,250 some sort of mistake with the demographics. 142 00:06:13,250 --> 00:06:14,542 - What they did was they put together 143 00:06:14,542 --> 00:06:16,625 a bunch of focus groups to try out 144 00:06:16,625 --> 00:06:19,917 and to taste this Franco- American canned spaghetti. 145 00:06:19,917 --> 00:06:21,542 - Kids? 146 00:06:21,542 --> 00:06:23,833 - The main takeaway from all this focus group testing 147 00:06:23,833 --> 00:06:26,792 is that when they gave the canned spaghetti to kids, 148 00:06:26,792 --> 00:06:28,833 the kids liked it. 149 00:06:28,833 --> 00:06:32,167 - At this time, spaghetti was thought of as kind of exotic, 150 00:06:32,167 --> 00:06:34,708 so they were really pretty surprised. 151 00:06:34,708 --> 00:06:36,083 - [Narrator] Goerke sees an opportunity 152 00:06:36,083 --> 00:06:37,708 with the youth demographic. 153 00:06:37,708 --> 00:06:39,833 As America's baby boom peaks, 154 00:06:39,833 --> 00:06:42,542 there will be an estimated 20 million children 155 00:06:42,542 --> 00:06:45,583 under the age of five by 1965. 156 00:06:46,667 --> 00:06:48,958 A product that can simplify a mother's life 157 00:06:48,958 --> 00:06:51,542 and appeal to a child's taste buds could turn 158 00:06:51,542 --> 00:06:55,208 the Franco-American division around. 159 00:06:55,208 --> 00:06:57,333 - Goerke's wise enough to realize 160 00:06:57,333 --> 00:07:00,042 he's gotta appeal to those 20 million kids. 161 00:07:00,042 --> 00:07:03,917 He needs a kid-centric approach to canned pasta. 162 00:07:03,917 --> 00:07:06,917 - So the good news is he knows who he needs to appeal to. 163 00:07:06,917 --> 00:07:10,583 The bad news is he has no idea how to appeal to kids, 164 00:07:10,583 --> 00:07:13,208 nor are there any models that he can learn from. 165 00:07:13,208 --> 00:07:14,708 - [Narrator] The kids' food market 166 00:07:14,708 --> 00:07:16,833 is still a young industry. 167 00:07:16,833 --> 00:07:19,667 - You know, there wasn't a lot of food made for kids, 168 00:07:19,667 --> 00:07:21,792 you know, if you're gonna give the kids something for lunch, 169 00:07:21,792 --> 00:07:23,750 it was typically like leftovers. 170 00:07:23,750 --> 00:07:25,000 If you're giving them something for dinner, 171 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:26,875 you were giving 'em what the adults were having. 172 00:07:26,875 --> 00:07:28,833 The one kid-friendly product that's marketed 173 00:07:28,833 --> 00:07:30,708 directly to kids is breakfast cereal, 174 00:07:30,708 --> 00:07:32,417 and they eat a ton of it. 175 00:07:32,417 --> 00:07:33,750 So Goerke gets the idea, 176 00:07:33,750 --> 00:07:36,083 what if we do the same thing with canned pasta? 177 00:07:37,375 --> 00:07:38,542 - [Narrator] But first, 178 00:07:38,542 --> 00:07:40,833 Goerke will have to convince his team. 179 00:07:40,833 --> 00:07:43,792 - Kids don't eat spaghetti. It's too difficult. 180 00:07:43,792 --> 00:07:47,375 - Great, so let's make something that's easier for them. 181 00:07:47,375 --> 00:07:49,542 - What would you like us to do? 182 00:07:49,542 --> 00:07:53,500 Design a spaghetti they can eat with a spoon? 183 00:07:56,750 --> 00:07:59,208 - Kids already know how to eat soup. 184 00:07:59,208 --> 00:08:01,083 They love their cereal. 185 00:08:01,083 --> 00:08:03,625 Let's give them a spaghetti they can eat out of a bowl. 186 00:08:03,625 --> 00:08:06,417 - As a child, what was the first utensil 187 00:08:06,417 --> 00:08:09,708 I ever used consistently? Easily? A spoon! 188 00:08:09,708 --> 00:08:11,708 - The idea of kids trying to figure out how 189 00:08:11,708 --> 00:08:13,875 to eat something that is really messy. 190 00:08:13,875 --> 00:08:16,250 Make it, make it spoonable. 191 00:08:16,250 --> 00:08:19,083 - Come on. This is exciting. We're gonna reinvent pasta. 192 00:08:23,250 --> 00:08:25,625 - [Narrator] Overseeing the team is product development 193 00:08:25,625 --> 00:08:27,542 supervisor Ralph Miller. 194 00:08:28,708 --> 00:08:30,708 - Ralph Miller started at Campbell's in 1950 195 00:08:30,708 --> 00:08:32,208 as an entry-level chemist, 196 00:08:32,208 --> 00:08:35,625 and eventually worked his way up to oversee a team of chefs, 197 00:08:35,625 --> 00:08:37,833 food scientists and technicians. 198 00:08:37,833 --> 00:08:40,792 - Ralph Miller's got a huge responsibility 199 00:08:40,792 --> 00:08:44,625 on his shoulders, but he also has a creative mind. 200 00:08:44,625 --> 00:08:46,875 He's very, very smart. 201 00:08:46,875 --> 00:08:48,875 - [Narrator] To entice kids to eat pasta, 202 00:08:48,875 --> 00:08:52,542 Miller and his team experiment with a new idea. 203 00:08:52,542 --> 00:08:54,708 - They wanna make something fun for kids, 204 00:08:54,708 --> 00:08:56,750 and so they're experimenting around 205 00:08:56,750 --> 00:08:58,125 with all kinds of shapes. 206 00:09:00,083 --> 00:09:02,667 - [Narrator] They start with stars, baseballs, 207 00:09:02,667 --> 00:09:05,542 cowboys, and astronauts. 208 00:09:05,542 --> 00:09:07,375 - This idea was ahead of its time. 209 00:09:07,375 --> 00:09:10,125 Today we're so used to food coming in unusual shapes, 210 00:09:10,125 --> 00:09:13,125 especially if it's for kids, whether it be sour patch kids, 211 00:09:13,125 --> 00:09:16,125 or Flintstones vitamins, but nobody was doing it back then. 212 00:09:17,333 --> 00:09:19,000 - [Narrator] But the task of creating a precooked, 213 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,458 ready-to-serve, fun-shaped spaghetti 214 00:09:21,458 --> 00:09:23,042 that's also easy to eat 215 00:09:23,042 --> 00:09:26,917 is proving more challenging than the team anticipated. 216 00:09:29,292 --> 00:09:31,625 - What, what is this? 217 00:09:33,292 --> 00:09:34,292 - That is an astronaut. 218 00:09:37,167 --> 00:09:37,917 - Or a cowboy? 219 00:09:41,042 --> 00:09:45,208 - I can't sell this. The shapes need to be fun. 220 00:09:45,208 --> 00:09:47,875 How can they be fun if the kids can't tell what they are? 221 00:09:47,875 --> 00:09:49,167 - We'll keep working on it. 222 00:09:51,500 --> 00:09:53,792 - To get a pasta that wouldn't fall apart, 223 00:09:53,792 --> 00:09:57,875 would hold its shape, is really, really hard. 224 00:09:57,875 --> 00:10:01,542 I mean, you know, that's landing on a dime, right? 225 00:10:01,542 --> 00:10:02,958 In food composition. 226 00:10:04,292 --> 00:10:07,625 - [Narrator] After nearly a year of trial and error, 227 00:10:07,625 --> 00:10:11,042 Donald Goerke still doesn't have a viable product. 228 00:10:11,042 --> 00:10:13,292 - His team's exhausted. He's losing hope. 229 00:10:13,292 --> 00:10:16,125 Maybe this big idea of his is just not gonna happen. 230 00:10:19,542 --> 00:10:21,000 - [Narrator] After yet another failed attempt 231 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,083 to develop a kid-friendly pasta, 232 00:10:23,083 --> 00:10:25,958 one of the development chefs is cleaning up. 233 00:10:30,667 --> 00:10:33,042 - Kurt Erbeling was doing dishes, 234 00:10:33,042 --> 00:10:34,667 and he saw how a strand of spaghetti 235 00:10:34,667 --> 00:10:36,250 curled around into a ring shape. 236 00:10:38,042 --> 00:10:40,542 - [Narrator] A seemingly insignificant strand of pasta 237 00:10:40,542 --> 00:10:43,750 is about to ignite a culinary shift, 238 00:10:43,750 --> 00:10:47,417 paving a path that will one day make Italian cuisine 239 00:10:47,417 --> 00:10:50,208 a cornerstone of American dining. 240 00:10:55,208 --> 00:10:57,125 - [Narrator] After nearly a year of trial and error, 241 00:10:57,125 --> 00:11:00,000 Campbell's product development supervisor Ralph Miller 242 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,208 finally stumbles onto a pasta shape 243 00:11:02,208 --> 00:11:05,292 that holds together and is easy to eat. 244 00:11:07,250 --> 00:11:09,042 - What if they just took regular pasta 245 00:11:09,042 --> 00:11:10,875 and cut it into rings? Genius. 246 00:11:10,875 --> 00:11:14,042 - Tube-shaped pasta has been around for eons. 247 00:11:14,042 --> 00:11:16,417 Rigatoni, penne, and so on. 248 00:11:16,417 --> 00:11:19,000 So if you just slice a section off 249 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,458 of that tube shaped pasta, you have an O, 250 00:11:22,458 --> 00:11:27,083 and structurally it all holds together and cooks evenly. 251 00:11:27,083 --> 00:11:29,875 - So the O shape, it's already popular with kids. 252 00:11:29,875 --> 00:11:32,167 I mean, after all, Cheerios is a hit. 253 00:11:37,833 --> 00:11:39,500 - [Narrator] After finding the right pasta, 254 00:11:39,500 --> 00:11:43,208 the team's next challenge is to create the perfect sauce. 255 00:11:53,458 --> 00:11:54,417 - A little too spicy. 256 00:11:55,500 --> 00:11:56,625 - At this point in time, 257 00:11:56,625 --> 00:11:58,958 Americans are beginning to eat pizza, 258 00:11:58,958 --> 00:12:02,042 which typically has a sweeter tomato sauce on it. 259 00:12:02,042 --> 00:12:03,417 - [Narrator] And Pizza Hut has not only 260 00:12:03,417 --> 00:12:05,042 become a national chain, 261 00:12:05,042 --> 00:12:09,000 but has set the standard for pizza for most Americans. 262 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,208 - There's a big difference between American palates 263 00:12:11,208 --> 00:12:12,208 and Italian ones. 264 00:12:12,208 --> 00:12:14,500 Americans mainly like things sweeter. 265 00:12:14,500 --> 00:12:17,042 There's a huge difference between a traditional 266 00:12:17,042 --> 00:12:20,083 Italian pizza sauce and what Pizza Hut puts on their pizzas. 267 00:12:23,167 --> 00:12:26,708 (pots bubbling) 268 00:12:31,708 --> 00:12:35,333 - It's, it's too thin. Can we add more body? 269 00:12:36,375 --> 00:12:38,500 - [Narrator] After months of experimentation, 270 00:12:38,500 --> 00:12:41,375 Miller adds cheese to his sauce. 271 00:12:46,625 --> 00:12:50,042 - It's not fair to call it a sauce in a classic sense. 272 00:12:50,042 --> 00:12:53,792 It has a tang, but it's not sharp. 273 00:12:53,792 --> 00:12:57,250 It has a smoothness, but it's not creamy. 274 00:12:57,250 --> 00:13:01,708 It has a density to it, but it's not thick. 275 00:13:01,708 --> 00:13:03,125 - [Narrator] Now Miller wants to test 276 00:13:03,125 --> 00:13:06,958 their unnamed canned spaghetti on his toughest critic. 277 00:13:07,750 --> 00:13:09,417 - Are you hungry? - Yeah. 278 00:13:09,417 --> 00:13:10,542 - [Narrator] His son. 279 00:13:10,542 --> 00:13:11,417 - Great. 280 00:13:12,583 --> 00:13:13,750 Because, 281 00:13:15,750 --> 00:13:19,083 I have a special spaghetti 282 00:13:19,083 --> 00:13:21,542 that I think you're gonna love. 283 00:13:21,542 --> 00:13:25,250 Oh, sorry about that. Yummy. 284 00:13:25,250 --> 00:13:26,208 - [Narrator] While Miller hopes to get 285 00:13:26,208 --> 00:13:28,542 his son's approval on the taste, 286 00:13:28,542 --> 00:13:30,167 he ends up getting something more. 287 00:13:31,583 --> 00:13:32,750 - Uh oh. SpaghettiOs. 288 00:13:36,708 --> 00:13:38,250 - Ralph Miller's son is actually credited 289 00:13:38,250 --> 00:13:39,875 with inspiring a lot of the marketing 290 00:13:39,875 --> 00:13:41,708 for the early years of SpaghettiOs. 291 00:13:41,708 --> 00:13:43,458 Starting with the name. 292 00:13:43,458 --> 00:13:46,083 SpaghettiOs took this very ethnic sounding word, 293 00:13:46,083 --> 00:13:47,667 spaghetti, this Italian word, 294 00:13:47,667 --> 00:13:50,792 and turned it into this very fun American word, SpaghettiOs. 295 00:13:52,042 --> 00:13:53,792 - [Narrator] Running with inspiration from Miller's son, 296 00:13:53,792 --> 00:13:55,708 Goerke quickly gets Campbell's ad agency 297 00:13:55,708 --> 00:13:58,333 to create kid-friendly branding. 298 00:14:00,583 --> 00:14:03,583 - They've got this amazing little face on the can, right? 299 00:14:03,583 --> 00:14:05,125 This face. Two little eyeballs, 300 00:14:05,125 --> 00:14:07,958 but his eyeballs are made of the actual SpaghettiOs, right? 301 00:14:07,958 --> 00:14:09,333 And he's got a mouth with sort of like a tongue. 302 00:14:09,333 --> 00:14:11,375 He's like loving the SpaghettiO flavor. 303 00:14:11,375 --> 00:14:13,292 - [Narrator] Now the only thing left to do 304 00:14:13,292 --> 00:14:16,833 is to see if enough kids respond to make it a hit. 305 00:14:19,625 --> 00:14:22,833 On October 18th, 1965, SpaghettiOs 306 00:14:22,833 --> 00:14:25,208 hit store shelves nationwide, 307 00:14:25,208 --> 00:14:29,292 marketed as the first spoonable spaghetti. 308 00:14:29,292 --> 00:14:33,375 - So to appeal to moms, they advertise this as a convenient, 309 00:14:33,375 --> 00:14:35,542 easy-to-prepare food that's clean, right? 310 00:14:35,542 --> 00:14:37,375 It's not gonna make a mess like regular spaghetti. 311 00:14:37,375 --> 00:14:40,333 Not only that, they come up with this catchy tune sung 312 00:14:40,333 --> 00:14:42,458 by this country singer called Jimmy Rogers. 313 00:14:42,458 --> 00:14:44,667 ♪ The neat new spaghetti you can eat with a spoon ♪ 314 00:14:44,667 --> 00:14:48,208 ♪ Uh oh, SpaghettiOs! 315 00:14:48,208 --> 00:14:51,625 - I mean, it's really kind of a perfect, perfect moment. 316 00:14:51,625 --> 00:14:53,125 You just need to heat it in the pot. 317 00:14:53,125 --> 00:14:55,875 The kids can sing "uh oh, SpaghettiOs!" 318 00:14:55,875 --> 00:14:59,292 And it's easy to clean up and delicious. 319 00:14:59,292 --> 00:15:02,333 - [Narrator] SpaghettiOs proved to be an instant success. 320 00:15:02,333 --> 00:15:05,625 Within weeks, Campbell's factories go into overdrive 321 00:15:05,625 --> 00:15:07,583 to keep up with demand. 322 00:15:07,583 --> 00:15:09,542 - Kids love it. Moms love it. 323 00:15:09,542 --> 00:15:13,208 SpaghettiOs is a massive hit. 324 00:15:13,208 --> 00:15:15,208 I don't wanna say can't be kept on the shelves, 325 00:15:15,208 --> 00:15:17,125 but it's almost to that level. 326 00:15:17,125 --> 00:15:18,667 - It's really simple to serve. 327 00:15:18,667 --> 00:15:21,083 You open a can. You warm it up. 328 00:15:21,083 --> 00:15:24,500 A 10-year-old can do this for her younger siblings. 329 00:15:24,500 --> 00:15:27,042 Kids love it. It's easy. 330 00:15:27,042 --> 00:15:29,167 The convenience of feeding little kids 331 00:15:29,167 --> 00:15:31,042 with SpaghettiOs was huge, 332 00:15:31,042 --> 00:15:35,250 and it did actually make it neater to feed a toddler, 333 00:15:35,250 --> 00:15:37,042 because they could use their little baby spoons 334 00:15:37,042 --> 00:15:38,958 and eat SpaghettiOs. 335 00:15:38,958 --> 00:15:40,125 - [Narrator] SpaghettiOs will go on 336 00:15:40,125 --> 00:15:44,000 to sell more than 150 million cans each year, 337 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,625 and is credited with helping to introduce pasta 338 00:15:46,625 --> 00:15:48,375 to American kids. 339 00:15:49,542 --> 00:15:52,000 - SpaghettiOs is the key to the kingdom, right, 340 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,583 for opening up Italian- American cuisine 341 00:15:54,583 --> 00:15:57,292 for American's palates. 342 00:15:57,292 --> 00:15:59,708 So Don Goerke and his team have created this 343 00:15:59,708 --> 00:16:01,250 amazing successful product. 344 00:16:01,250 --> 00:16:04,417 - He was dubbed the Daddio of SpaghettiOs, 345 00:16:04,417 --> 00:16:08,375 and it really strengthened the Franco-American brand. 346 00:16:08,375 --> 00:16:10,750 He introduced over 100 products, 347 00:16:10,750 --> 00:16:14,292 and being the leader of the Franco-American brand 348 00:16:14,292 --> 00:16:17,208 was no longer something to be embarrassed of. 349 00:16:17,208 --> 00:16:19,042 - [Narrator] After turning the Franco-American brand 350 00:16:19,042 --> 00:16:20,542 into a moneymaker, 351 00:16:20,542 --> 00:16:23,375 Don Goerke is moved back to Campbell's soups, 352 00:16:23,375 --> 00:16:25,708 where he goes on to create the highly successful 353 00:16:25,708 --> 00:16:28,000 Chunky Soup product line. 354 00:16:29,958 --> 00:16:33,042 By 1975, SpaghettiOs is racking up sales 355 00:16:33,042 --> 00:16:37,250 of $375 million a year. 356 00:16:37,250 --> 00:16:40,833 As the Italian food landscape continues to slowly expand. 357 00:16:40,833 --> 00:16:42,083 - At this point in time, 358 00:16:42,083 --> 00:16:44,208 you could find Italian-American restaurants 359 00:16:44,208 --> 00:16:46,375 outside of the major cities and outside of enclaves, 360 00:16:46,375 --> 00:16:48,875 like Little Italy in Chicago and New York, 361 00:16:48,875 --> 00:16:51,208 and eventually even non-Italian restaurants 362 00:16:51,208 --> 00:16:53,208 were beginning to serve Italian food. 363 00:16:53,208 --> 00:16:54,292 - [Narrator] But what's often served 364 00:16:54,292 --> 00:16:56,750 isn't actually Italian at all, 365 00:16:56,750 --> 00:17:01,625 especially one wildly popular new dish, pasta primavera. 366 00:17:03,042 --> 00:17:05,417 - Primavera does not exist as a pasta dish in Italy. 367 00:17:05,417 --> 00:17:08,250 Pasta primavera is an American invention. 368 00:17:08,250 --> 00:17:13,167 - In 1977, pasta primavera is invented in New York City 369 00:17:13,167 --> 00:17:15,333 at one of the most famous restaurants in New York, 370 00:17:15,333 --> 00:17:18,500 Le Cirque by chef Alan Siacc. 371 00:17:18,500 --> 00:17:21,000 The idea was we have all of these vegetables 372 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:22,708 in the restaurant, how do we use them up? 373 00:17:22,708 --> 00:17:25,000 It was an ingenious idea. 374 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:26,750 'Cause one vegetables are really cheap, 375 00:17:26,750 --> 00:17:30,667 and why not just, you know, crown it with an Italian name? 376 00:17:30,667 --> 00:17:31,667 - [Narrator] By the eighties, 377 00:17:31,667 --> 00:17:34,375 a new food genre is emerging. 378 00:17:34,375 --> 00:17:37,750 Italian with an all-American twist. 379 00:17:37,750 --> 00:17:40,333 And Campbell's wants to cash in on the trend. 380 00:17:42,708 --> 00:17:44,958 Now without Don Goerke, 381 00:17:44,958 --> 00:17:47,167 Ralph Miller gets a new mission. 382 00:17:47,167 --> 00:17:49,958 Launch an Italian food product that can do for adults 383 00:17:49,958 --> 00:17:52,625 what SpaghettiOs did for kids. 384 00:17:53,792 --> 00:17:55,333 - Miller figured out how to appeal to baby boomers 385 00:17:55,333 --> 00:17:58,208 as kids with SpaghettiOs, but now a decade later, 386 00:17:58,208 --> 00:18:00,708 he's gotta figure out how to win 'em back as adults. 387 00:18:02,208 --> 00:18:03,875 - [Narrator] If he can make a product for 388 00:18:03,875 --> 00:18:05,000 a more mature demographic, 389 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,542 Miller and his team could transform 390 00:18:07,542 --> 00:18:09,667 the Italian-American food market. 391 00:18:15,208 --> 00:18:17,125 [rhythmic music] 392 00:18:17,125 --> 00:18:19,208 - [Narrator] It is 1977 and Campbell's has hired 393 00:18:19,208 --> 00:18:21,417 a new food scientist, Bill Hildebolt. 394 00:18:21,417 --> 00:18:25,083 - Dr. Bill Hildebolt was a farm boy from Ohio. 395 00:18:25,083 --> 00:18:27,250 Bill was a little bit gruff, 396 00:18:27,250 --> 00:18:30,417 but his real passion was food science. 397 00:18:30,417 --> 00:18:32,667 - [Narrator] Hildebolt is tasked with developing 398 00:18:32,667 --> 00:18:36,250 a new product to recapture the baby boomer market. 399 00:18:36,250 --> 00:18:39,042 - So if you think about it, baby boomers have grown up. 400 00:18:39,042 --> 00:18:40,583 They're sophisticated adults now, 401 00:18:40,583 --> 00:18:42,708 and they want a more sophisticated food 402 00:18:42,708 --> 00:18:44,000 than SpaghettiOs. 403 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,375 - One night Bill's wife had made 404 00:18:46,375 --> 00:18:47,708 a spaghetti dinner for them, 405 00:18:47,708 --> 00:18:50,333 but when Bill looked at the dish, he noticed 406 00:18:50,333 --> 00:18:52,292 that there was a line of liquid 407 00:18:52,292 --> 00:18:54,292 around the the heap of pasta, 408 00:18:54,292 --> 00:18:55,375 and that really bothered him, 409 00:18:55,375 --> 00:18:57,958 and he said, I'm going to make a thicker, 410 00:18:57,958 --> 00:19:00,375 more luxurious tomato sauce. 411 00:19:00,375 --> 00:19:02,833 - Most Americans were not making their own tomato sauce. 412 00:19:02,833 --> 00:19:05,458 It was still somewhat foreign and exotic to them. 413 00:19:05,458 --> 00:19:09,542 They would eat canned sauces from Hunt's and Ragu, 414 00:19:09,542 --> 00:19:13,125 which was starting to grow its national audience. 415 00:19:13,125 --> 00:19:15,042 - So this is a big swing for Campbell's. 416 00:19:15,042 --> 00:19:16,542 There are already two heavy hitter 417 00:19:16,542 --> 00:19:18,750 tomato sauces on the market. 418 00:19:18,750 --> 00:19:21,667 - Hildebolt begins by examining market leaders, 419 00:19:21,667 --> 00:19:23,333 Hunt's and Ragu, 420 00:19:26,625 --> 00:19:30,250 (suspenseful music) 421 00:19:33,292 --> 00:19:35,542 but is unimpressed with what he finds. 422 00:19:35,542 --> 00:19:38,000 - They're very thin, there are no real herbs. 423 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,375 It's just sort of tomatoes and sugar, a little bit of salt, 424 00:19:41,375 --> 00:19:45,042 not really these robust tomato sauce flavors 425 00:19:45,042 --> 00:19:46,375 that we think of today. 426 00:19:46,375 --> 00:19:48,292 - Ragu and Hunt's both used cornstarch 427 00:19:48,292 --> 00:19:49,542 to thicken their sauces. 428 00:19:49,542 --> 00:19:52,000 That impacted the flavor in a negative way. 429 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,208 They also used extracts of spices rather than whole spices, 430 00:19:56,208 --> 00:19:59,250 which led to a metallic flavor in the sauce. 431 00:19:59,250 --> 00:20:02,708 - I can tell you as a kid who did not grow up 432 00:20:02,708 --> 00:20:07,375 in an Italian-American household, I remember Ragu. 433 00:20:07,375 --> 00:20:10,250 I will tell you straight up, God's honest, 434 00:20:10,250 --> 00:20:12,375 that sauce was too thin. 435 00:20:12,375 --> 00:20:14,500 It was really, really thin. 436 00:20:14,500 --> 00:20:16,417 - [Narrator] Hildebolt believes Ragu and Hunt's are popular 437 00:20:16,417 --> 00:20:20,250 simply because they're the only options on the market, 438 00:20:20,250 --> 00:20:23,458 and that Campbell's can offer something better. 439 00:20:23,458 --> 00:20:25,917 - At that point, Americans didn't have much experience 440 00:20:25,917 --> 00:20:29,500 into what an authentic tomato sauce tastes like. 441 00:20:29,500 --> 00:20:31,292 Americans are looking for convenience in 442 00:20:31,292 --> 00:20:32,542 their tomato sauce. 443 00:20:32,542 --> 00:20:33,583 They're not gonna make it from scratch the way 444 00:20:33,583 --> 00:20:36,083 Italian families are going to do. 445 00:20:36,083 --> 00:20:37,500 - [Narrator] Hildebolt decides to pursue 446 00:20:37,500 --> 00:20:39,958 a little firsthand market research. 447 00:20:39,958 --> 00:20:41,917 - How about Italian for lunch? 448 00:20:46,833 --> 00:20:49,750 - Bill Hildebolt and his chef visit a local Italian 449 00:20:49,750 --> 00:20:54,625 restaurant to study the flavors of a real Italian sauce. 450 00:20:57,542 --> 00:21:00,625 (suspenseful music) (forks clinking) 451 00:21:08,708 --> 00:21:09,500 - Wow. 452 00:21:10,500 --> 00:21:13,208 - It's robust. It is rich. 453 00:21:13,208 --> 00:21:16,292 It's not overly sweet. It's thick. 454 00:21:16,292 --> 00:21:19,292 It's almost part of the meal itself, 455 00:21:19,292 --> 00:21:21,042 rather than just a condiment. 456 00:21:21,042 --> 00:21:25,542 It really pops with a flavor of fresh, fragrant herbs. 457 00:21:25,542 --> 00:21:30,500 Garlic. There's a much more savory, salty contrast. 458 00:21:31,208 --> 00:21:32,500 - From that point, 459 00:21:32,500 --> 00:21:33,625 he knew that they needed to put together 460 00:21:33,625 --> 00:21:35,833 a spaghetti sauce that could go head to head 461 00:21:35,833 --> 00:21:39,500 with something that was created in an Italian restaurant. 462 00:21:39,500 --> 00:21:41,667 - [Narrator] Unlike the leading tomato sauce brands, 463 00:21:41,667 --> 00:21:43,542 Campbell's is attempting to concoct a recipe 464 00:21:43,542 --> 00:21:46,708 that can be mass produced using only fresh, 465 00:21:46,708 --> 00:21:48,792 whole ingredients. 466 00:21:50,083 --> 00:21:52,833 - One of the sources of pride in Campbell's Soup Company 467 00:21:52,833 --> 00:21:55,875 was the promise to the consumers that there would 468 00:21:55,875 --> 00:21:59,792 never be artificial flavors or thickeners in the products. 469 00:21:59,792 --> 00:22:02,083 They saw that there was an opportunity, 470 00:22:02,083 --> 00:22:04,708 specifically in spaghetti sauce, 471 00:22:04,708 --> 00:22:08,083 because the competitors did not have that policy. 472 00:22:08,083 --> 00:22:11,083 - You would think that if you put delicious stuff in, 473 00:22:11,083 --> 00:22:12,583 delicious stuff comes out, 474 00:22:12,583 --> 00:22:14,625 but actually it's really, really difficult 475 00:22:14,625 --> 00:22:18,500 not to use additives and additional ingredients. 476 00:22:18,500 --> 00:22:21,208 - [Narrator] But when the sauce is tested with focus groups, 477 00:22:21,208 --> 00:22:23,958 Hildebolt and his team get unexpected feedback 478 00:22:23,958 --> 00:22:26,208 that forces a change. 479 00:22:26,208 --> 00:22:28,625 - Can we go even sweeter? 480 00:22:29,542 --> 00:22:31,583 - What they're finding and testing 481 00:22:31,583 --> 00:22:34,417 is that American palates like things a little sweeter. 482 00:22:34,417 --> 00:22:36,750 They might have actually grown up on SpaghettiOs, 483 00:22:36,750 --> 00:22:40,542 which had a slightly higher in sugar content tomato sauce. 484 00:22:40,542 --> 00:22:43,250 So in a weird way, they could be dealing with palates 485 00:22:43,250 --> 00:22:46,875 shaped by SpaghettiOs themselves. 486 00:22:46,875 --> 00:22:49,542 - The chef said this is sounding like a dessert sauce, 487 00:22:49,542 --> 00:22:51,958 but he reluctantly added sugar to it 488 00:22:51,958 --> 00:22:54,167 and had struck the balance between making it 489 00:22:54,167 --> 00:22:56,667 a little bit sweeter, but not making it too sweet. 490 00:22:56,667 --> 00:22:59,792 - You can have the best culinary mind in the world. 491 00:22:59,792 --> 00:23:02,500 You can know what will taste better, 492 00:23:02,500 --> 00:23:04,583 but it's hard to tell the American public 493 00:23:04,583 --> 00:23:07,208 that they should be wanting something else 494 00:23:07,208 --> 00:23:09,542 when they're used to something different. 495 00:23:09,542 --> 00:23:10,917 - What they learned from testing was that 496 00:23:10,917 --> 00:23:12,917 the American consumer was not ready 497 00:23:12,917 --> 00:23:14,875 for an authentically Italian sauce. 498 00:23:14,875 --> 00:23:16,292 - [Narrator] But before they have a chance 499 00:23:16,292 --> 00:23:18,042 to make adjustments to their recipe, 500 00:23:18,042 --> 00:23:22,375 Hildebolt gets devastating news from Ralph Miller. 501 00:23:22,375 --> 00:23:25,708 - I'm sorry, but it's not coming from me. 502 00:23:25,708 --> 00:23:28,917 - The board flat out tells them to stop the project. 503 00:23:28,917 --> 00:23:32,750 - If people only knew what good tomato sauce tastes like. 504 00:23:32,750 --> 00:23:35,042 They don't even know what they're missing. 505 00:23:35,042 --> 00:23:36,875 - Do you believe in it? 506 00:23:36,875 --> 00:23:37,625 - I do. 507 00:23:39,250 --> 00:23:40,583 - Then take it underground. 508 00:23:41,708 --> 00:23:45,500 Develop it on your own in secret. 509 00:23:45,500 --> 00:23:47,167 I'll throw some resources your way, 510 00:23:50,375 --> 00:23:51,375 but keep it quiet. 511 00:23:53,667 --> 00:23:56,000 - Both of them are defying a direct order 512 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,000 from their superiors to scrap the project. 513 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:02,042 So if this sauce is not the hit they think it's gonna be, 514 00:24:02,042 --> 00:24:05,875 the project is toast and so are their careers. 515 00:24:05,875 --> 00:24:07,708 - [Narrator] After several months of 516 00:24:07,708 --> 00:24:08,833 fine tuning the recipe, 517 00:24:08,833 --> 00:24:10,917 Miller and Hildebolt are finally ready 518 00:24:10,917 --> 00:24:14,625 to reveal their secret project to Campbell's executives. 519 00:24:20,375 --> 00:24:24,042 - Campbell's Very Own Spaghetti Sauce. 520 00:24:28,792 --> 00:24:31,708 - Hildebolt and Miller are using a lot of time, 521 00:24:31,708 --> 00:24:34,750 a lot of resources, and a whole lot of money 522 00:24:34,750 --> 00:24:38,500 on something they were told to scrap ages ago. 523 00:24:41,792 --> 00:24:43,708 - The guys must have thought they'd win their bosses over 524 00:24:43,708 --> 00:24:45,042 with this dazzling pitch, 525 00:24:45,042 --> 00:24:47,042 but it went over like a ton of bricks. 526 00:24:48,042 --> 00:24:49,667 - [Narrator] The two men have one more 527 00:24:49,667 --> 00:24:51,875 trick up their sleeve, but if it doesn't work, 528 00:24:51,875 --> 00:24:55,458 their careers at Campbell's might just be over. 529 00:25:01,625 --> 00:25:04,208 - [Narrator] At Campbell's Ralph Miller has one more 530 00:25:04,208 --> 00:25:05,667 Hail Mary to try. 531 00:25:07,375 --> 00:25:09,667 Convincing executives to sit down 532 00:25:09,667 --> 00:25:11,792 and taste the new tomato sauce. 533 00:25:15,417 --> 00:25:17,542 - Market research has our sauce beating Ragu 534 00:25:17,542 --> 00:25:20,083 in a blind taste test three to one. 535 00:25:27,333 --> 00:25:29,708 - It had a toned-down acidity, 536 00:25:29,708 --> 00:25:32,250 which was one of the keys to its early successes 537 00:25:32,250 --> 00:25:34,083 with all of the tasters. 538 00:25:34,083 --> 00:25:37,167 What it was was sort of a great sweet, tart kind of balance. 539 00:25:38,958 --> 00:25:42,625 - Even with Hildebolt and his team basically working 540 00:25:42,625 --> 00:25:46,125 in secret against the direct orders of their superiors, 541 00:25:46,125 --> 00:25:49,375 the executives realize they have a true hit product 542 00:25:49,375 --> 00:25:50,917 on their hands. 543 00:25:50,917 --> 00:25:53,042 - [Narrator] The executives are won over by the taste 544 00:25:53,042 --> 00:25:56,125 and decide to green light the spaghetti sauce. 545 00:25:56,125 --> 00:25:57,333 With one exception. 546 00:25:57,333 --> 00:25:59,875 - Campbell's Very Own Spaghetti Sauce. 547 00:25:59,875 --> 00:26:01,333 This was a terrible name. 548 00:26:01,333 --> 00:26:02,667 - Not only is that a mouthful, 549 00:26:02,667 --> 00:26:04,708 not only is that hard to say, 550 00:26:04,708 --> 00:26:06,958 but all of the upper management at Campbell's 551 00:26:06,958 --> 00:26:08,208 hated the name. 552 00:26:08,208 --> 00:26:10,708 - They've been putting a lot of time, a lot of effort, 553 00:26:10,708 --> 00:26:12,708 a lot of money into trying to come up with 554 00:26:12,708 --> 00:26:15,167 an authentic Italian tomato sauce, 555 00:26:15,167 --> 00:26:17,625 and they want the name to reflect that. 556 00:26:17,625 --> 00:26:19,792 Looking through an Italian- American dictionary, 557 00:26:19,792 --> 00:26:21,542 they saw that the word Prego means please 558 00:26:21,542 --> 00:26:26,417 and thank you in a very quick Italian soundbite. 559 00:26:26,417 --> 00:26:28,750 So it's perfect for a spaghetti sauce. 560 00:26:28,750 --> 00:26:32,375 Easy to ask for, easy to pronounce, but really Italian. 561 00:26:32,375 --> 00:26:33,792 - Prego sounds authentic. 562 00:26:33,792 --> 00:26:37,000 If I was looking at three pasta sauces, 563 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:39,875 I'm gonna want the one that says, this is authentic. 564 00:26:39,875 --> 00:26:41,917 This is the real deal. Prego. 565 00:26:43,042 --> 00:26:45,125 - [Narrator] In 1981, Prego hits the shelves 566 00:26:45,125 --> 00:26:48,708 as the first home- style spaghetti sauce. 567 00:26:48,708 --> 00:26:50,750 - The product launch is one of the best 568 00:26:50,750 --> 00:26:52,542 product launches of the 1980s. 569 00:26:52,542 --> 00:26:54,042 - [Narrator] Within a month of its release, 570 00:26:54,042 --> 00:26:58,125 Prego seizes 16% of the tomato sauce market. 571 00:26:59,250 --> 00:27:00,708 - We had shifted as a culture. 572 00:27:00,708 --> 00:27:03,375 In the eighties we were thinking about sophistication, 573 00:27:03,375 --> 00:27:04,875 we were thinking about a wider world, 574 00:27:04,875 --> 00:27:07,875 and Prego said, I'm part of that. 575 00:27:07,875 --> 00:27:12,500 In the 1980s, the power suit to wear was Giorgio Armani. 576 00:27:12,500 --> 00:27:14,042 It wasn't Brooks Brothers. 577 00:27:14,042 --> 00:27:16,417 That was your father's generation, 578 00:27:16,417 --> 00:27:20,083 and this was the pasta sauce to go with that kind of spirit. 579 00:27:20,083 --> 00:27:22,833 - The name Prego, that word, which was just two syllables, 580 00:27:22,833 --> 00:27:25,375 easy for English speaking Americans to pronounce 581 00:27:25,375 --> 00:27:28,375 and made them feel like they were maybe a little bit 582 00:27:28,375 --> 00:27:29,875 cultured, a little exotic, 583 00:27:29,875 --> 00:27:33,125 and they could get that in a jar on the grocery shelf. 584 00:27:33,125 --> 00:27:35,042 - [Narrator] In tandem with their new product release, 585 00:27:35,042 --> 00:27:38,958 Campbell's airs a series of iconic ads. 586 00:27:38,958 --> 00:27:41,875 - I used to think spaghetti sauce was spaghetti sauce, 587 00:27:41,875 --> 00:27:45,708 but you know. when you see Prego and Ragu side by side, 588 00:27:45,708 --> 00:27:48,083 the difference really comes through. 589 00:27:48,083 --> 00:27:52,292 - The ad campaign is a comparison between Ragu 590 00:27:52,292 --> 00:27:56,625 and the essentially chunkiness of Prego. 591 00:27:56,625 --> 00:27:58,875 - Essentially what they're depicting in the ad 592 00:27:58,875 --> 00:28:01,042 is that Ragu is too thin and falls through 593 00:28:01,042 --> 00:28:04,042 various implements like the spoon and spaghetti, 594 00:28:04,042 --> 00:28:05,375 because it does. 595 00:28:06,708 --> 00:28:08,125 - [Narrator] But Prego's aggressive ad campaign 596 00:28:08,125 --> 00:28:12,000 has raised the ire of industry leader Ragu. 597 00:28:12,792 --> 00:28:14,000 - Have you heard about this? 598 00:28:15,208 --> 00:28:17,917 Ragu's trying to sue us. 599 00:28:19,625 --> 00:28:22,458 - Ragu sees this new ad campaign as a threat, 600 00:28:22,458 --> 00:28:23,917 and ultimately sues Campbell's. 601 00:28:25,042 --> 00:28:27,583 - Now, Ragu is saying that this is, 602 00:28:27,583 --> 00:28:29,750 well, you just can't do that. 603 00:28:29,750 --> 00:28:32,167 This is defamation of pasta sauce character. 604 00:28:33,542 --> 00:28:36,792 - Good. That means we're winning. 605 00:28:38,125 --> 00:28:40,958 (impactful music) 606 00:28:41,875 --> 00:28:43,500 - Prego is a thicker sauce 607 00:28:43,500 --> 00:28:46,250 and stands up to scrutiny in the lawsuit. 608 00:28:46,250 --> 00:28:48,958 - [Narrator] The court rules in Prego's favor, 609 00:28:48,958 --> 00:28:50,458 and in the first year alone, 610 00:28:50,458 --> 00:28:54,333 Prego rakes in over a hundred million dollars in sales 611 00:28:54,333 --> 00:28:59,333 and captures 28% of the pasta sauce market, 612 00:28:59,333 --> 00:29:01,375 eventually overtaking Ragu 613 00:29:01,375 --> 00:29:04,958 to become the number one pasta sauce in America. 614 00:29:04,958 --> 00:29:07,708 - The launch of Prego really showed the American people 615 00:29:07,708 --> 00:29:11,667 that they can access Italian-American foods. 616 00:29:11,667 --> 00:29:13,083 - [Narrator] Next, Campbell's releases 617 00:29:13,083 --> 00:29:16,667 a Prego Italian recipe book with dishes 618 00:29:16,667 --> 00:29:18,792 that can be prepared using its product. 619 00:29:18,792 --> 00:29:21,042 - People all over the country are now cooking dishes 620 00:29:21,042 --> 00:29:23,250 that were once only found in Italian homes 621 00:29:23,250 --> 00:29:24,708 or Italian restaurants. 622 00:29:24,708 --> 00:29:25,917 - It's not like SpaghettiOs, 623 00:29:25,917 --> 00:29:28,208 which is one simple meal in a can. 624 00:29:28,208 --> 00:29:30,708 You could use it on spaghetti, on lasagna, 625 00:29:30,708 --> 00:29:32,500 veal or chicken parmesan. 626 00:29:32,500 --> 00:29:34,708 I mean, it was the jar on the shelf 627 00:29:34,708 --> 00:29:37,375 that could create 20 different meals. 628 00:29:37,375 --> 00:29:39,667 It's very, very versatile. 629 00:29:39,667 --> 00:29:40,917 - [Narrator] As families across the country 630 00:29:40,917 --> 00:29:43,042 embrace Italian- American cuisine, 631 00:29:43,042 --> 00:29:48,000 another food giant spies opportunity. 632 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,458 The newly appointed chairman of General Mills, 633 00:29:50,458 --> 00:29:53,708 H. Brewster Atwater, is looking for any opportunity 634 00:29:53,708 --> 00:29:57,875 to drive sales for his growing conglomerate. 635 00:29:57,875 --> 00:30:01,042 - In the 1980s General Mills is a juggernaut. 636 00:30:01,042 --> 00:30:03,542 They have the number one cereal in America, Cheerios. 637 00:30:03,542 --> 00:30:06,042 They have Wheaties, they have Gold Medal flour. 638 00:30:06,042 --> 00:30:08,417 They even expand into the restaurant business 639 00:30:08,417 --> 00:30:11,417 and acquire Red Lobster, and turn it into a mega chain. 640 00:30:13,542 --> 00:30:15,500 - Bruce Atwater was smart, 641 00:30:15,500 --> 00:30:17,417 personable, intimidating 642 00:30:17,417 --> 00:30:19,083 as chairman of the board 643 00:30:19,083 --> 00:30:21,292 of General Mills, but fair. 644 00:30:22,542 --> 00:30:25,042 And Bruce had a vision to say, 645 00:30:25,042 --> 00:30:26,875 let's go make General Mills the biggest 646 00:30:26,875 --> 00:30:28,333 conglomerate in America. 647 00:30:29,625 --> 00:30:30,708 - This looks fine. 648 00:30:30,708 --> 00:30:32,333 No changes. 649 00:30:32,333 --> 00:30:34,500 - [Narrator] Working to achieve Atwater's vision 650 00:30:34,500 --> 00:30:38,917 is his director of new concept development, Blaine Sweat. 651 00:30:38,917 --> 00:30:40,833 - At the time to make an impact, 652 00:30:40,833 --> 00:30:43,292 what General Mills was looking for was the concept 653 00:30:43,292 --> 00:30:45,667 that could grow to be a billion dollars in sales. 654 00:30:45,667 --> 00:30:46,833 Huge number. 655 00:30:46,833 --> 00:30:48,625 And a gentleman named Blaine Sweat, 656 00:30:48,625 --> 00:30:50,458 one of the smartest guys out there, 657 00:30:50,458 --> 00:30:53,167 who was a creative entrepreneurial guy 658 00:30:53,167 --> 00:30:55,375 working for General Mills came along and said, 659 00:30:55,375 --> 00:30:56,417 I have an idea. 660 00:30:58,917 --> 00:31:02,958 - Think Red Lobster, but spaghetti and meatballs. 661 00:31:04,917 --> 00:31:06,958 - The popularity of Prego helped make 662 00:31:06,958 --> 00:31:09,167 Italian-American food more accessible. 663 00:31:09,167 --> 00:31:11,750 It was something people were, were buying more of. 664 00:31:11,750 --> 00:31:13,500 The pizza sector had exploded. 665 00:31:13,500 --> 00:31:15,542 You had chains like Domino's and Pizza Hut, 666 00:31:15,542 --> 00:31:17,667 but there wasn't anything really on a national level 667 00:31:17,667 --> 00:31:21,708 that was a sit down, casual, family-style restaurant. 668 00:31:21,708 --> 00:31:23,375 So they set about to come up with 669 00:31:23,375 --> 00:31:27,375 and develop a new restaurant that would fill that space. 670 00:31:27,375 --> 00:31:30,792 - Okay, let's find an existing chain and acquire them. 671 00:31:30,792 --> 00:31:33,333 - We can't, that's the thing, they don't exist. 672 00:31:34,417 --> 00:31:37,583 I know this is gonna sound crazy. What if, 673 00:31:37,583 --> 00:31:39,917 what if we created our own? 674 00:31:41,875 --> 00:31:42,875 - Our own what? 675 00:31:43,750 --> 00:31:45,042 - Restaurant chain. 676 00:31:46,250 --> 00:31:48,125 Design it ourselves, build it from the ground up. 677 00:31:48,125 --> 00:31:50,667 - He decides he is going to find a way 678 00:31:50,667 --> 00:31:53,708 to make Italian food accessible to the entire nation, 679 00:31:53,708 --> 00:31:55,583 create a nationwide chain, 680 00:31:55,583 --> 00:32:00,250 and keep it somewhat authentic and somewhat Americanized. 681 00:32:00,250 --> 00:32:02,375 - General Mills said, if we're gonna put money 682 00:32:02,375 --> 00:32:03,875 into a concept, 683 00:32:03,875 --> 00:32:05,667 it has to be able to have the potential 684 00:32:05,667 --> 00:32:07,667 to grow to be a billion dollars. 685 00:32:07,667 --> 00:32:09,042 - I'll give you carte blanche. 686 00:32:09,042 --> 00:32:12,417 I have one condition. Don't screw it up. 687 00:32:14,625 --> 00:32:17,542 - Blaine said, okay, I need to find some people 688 00:32:17,542 --> 00:32:19,333 who really can help me do this. 689 00:32:19,333 --> 00:32:21,708 - [Narrator] Not only does Sweat not know the first thing 690 00:32:21,708 --> 00:32:23,542 about Italian-American food, 691 00:32:23,542 --> 00:32:25,667 he's never launched a restaurant before, 692 00:32:25,667 --> 00:32:28,958 let alone a nationwide chain. 693 00:32:28,958 --> 00:32:32,208 - He wants to go from zero to a hundred locations 694 00:32:32,208 --> 00:32:35,750 across the country, basically instantly. 695 00:32:35,750 --> 00:32:38,000 That, in a word, is risky. 696 00:32:43,333 --> 00:32:45,333 - [Narrator] It is 1981 and Blaine Sweat 697 00:32:45,333 --> 00:32:47,708 is assembling a handpicked team to develop 698 00:32:47,708 --> 00:32:51,083 an Italian restaurant concept for General Mills. 699 00:32:51,083 --> 00:32:53,583 - Okay guys, everybody gather round. 700 00:32:56,042 --> 00:32:58,750 - They assemble an elite strike force. 701 00:32:58,750 --> 00:32:59,958 - [Narrator] The team consists 702 00:32:59,958 --> 00:33:02,208 of operations mastermind Mark Given. 703 00:33:03,208 --> 00:33:05,000 - Mark Given, he had been at Red Lobster 704 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:06,500 and had run operations. 705 00:33:06,500 --> 00:33:08,917 - [Narrator] Italian chef, Gino DeSantis. 706 00:33:08,917 --> 00:33:10,542 - Gino was the culinary guy, 707 00:33:10,542 --> 00:33:12,708 straight off the boat from Italy, 708 00:33:12,708 --> 00:33:14,167 had all his mom's recipes. 709 00:33:14,167 --> 00:33:17,083 - The last person was this poor guy 710 00:33:17,083 --> 00:33:19,708 that they pull out of accounting and they basically say, 711 00:33:19,708 --> 00:33:23,292 you're the chief taster, you are the bookkeeper 712 00:33:23,292 --> 00:33:25,542 and you're gonna wash all the dishes. 713 00:33:25,542 --> 00:33:27,542 - [Narrator] And accountant Dave Manuchia. 714 00:33:27,542 --> 00:33:30,875 - I was a financial guy and I sort of kept, 715 00:33:30,875 --> 00:33:33,333 kept everybody in line a little bit. 716 00:33:33,333 --> 00:33:35,208 - Alright, we are going to be spending 717 00:33:35,208 --> 00:33:40,250 a lot of time together, nights, weekends, 718 00:33:41,667 --> 00:33:45,500 whatever it takes, and I can't give any of you guys raises. 719 00:33:46,708 --> 00:33:48,125 If this doesn't work out, 720 00:33:49,125 --> 00:33:51,083 we are probably all going to get fired. 721 00:33:51,083 --> 00:33:52,750 So if this isn't for you, 722 00:33:54,042 --> 00:33:55,875 I understand. Now would be the time to leave. 723 00:33:55,875 --> 00:33:58,667 (suspenseful music) 724 00:33:59,750 --> 00:34:00,542 Are you in? 725 00:34:01,958 --> 00:34:04,750 - What General Mills is doing is pretty bold. 726 00:34:04,750 --> 00:34:07,625 The traditional model is you start a restaurant, 727 00:34:07,625 --> 00:34:09,333 you build a following, 728 00:34:09,333 --> 00:34:11,542 and then when that following hits a threshold, 729 00:34:11,542 --> 00:34:14,875 you open location number two, maybe number three, 730 00:34:14,875 --> 00:34:19,375 but to create a chain from scratch, it's not easy. 731 00:34:19,375 --> 00:34:21,833 - [Narrator] Italian chef Gino DeSantis gets to work 732 00:34:21,833 --> 00:34:25,583 preparing potential dishes to be put on the menu. 733 00:34:25,583 --> 00:34:28,208 - We were inventing a taste that would be acceptable 734 00:34:28,208 --> 00:34:31,750 to a wide variety of Americans. 735 00:34:31,750 --> 00:34:33,042 So it was a bigger challenge. 736 00:34:33,042 --> 00:34:35,708 We'd lay out 15 pans of lasagna, 737 00:34:35,708 --> 00:34:39,250 take a bite, spit it out, take a bite, spit it out, 738 00:34:39,250 --> 00:34:41,083 until we found one that we felt like, 739 00:34:41,083 --> 00:34:42,708 okay, that one's pretty good. 740 00:34:42,708 --> 00:34:44,833 We did the same thing with every recipe. 741 00:34:44,833 --> 00:34:47,583 We made changes to the red sauce, to the lasagna, 742 00:34:47,583 --> 00:34:49,625 to the Alfredo sauce. 743 00:34:49,625 --> 00:34:51,542 - [Narrator] Traditional Alfredo sauce 744 00:34:51,542 --> 00:34:55,375 is made using only butter, parmesan cheese and pasta water, 745 00:34:55,375 --> 00:34:59,417 stirred by hand until it becomes a creamy emulsion. 746 00:34:59,417 --> 00:35:02,500 Instead, the team uses an ingredient not commonly used 747 00:35:02,500 --> 00:35:05,375 in Italian cuisine to mimic the texture and flavor 748 00:35:05,375 --> 00:35:07,458 without the elbow grease, 749 00:35:09,042 --> 00:35:10,458 cream. 750 00:35:10,708 --> 00:35:12,625 - Real Alfredo sauce doesn't have any cream in it, 751 00:35:12,625 --> 00:35:14,417 but if you ask any American today, 752 00:35:14,417 --> 00:35:16,667 they would most likely tell you that it does. 753 00:35:16,667 --> 00:35:20,917 - They also let go of Italian foreign sounding ingredients 754 00:35:20,917 --> 00:35:23,375 like capers, and instead they use terms 755 00:35:23,375 --> 00:35:26,458 like Italian dumplings instead of gnocchi, 756 00:35:26,458 --> 00:35:29,083 which is hard to pronounce for Americans 757 00:35:29,083 --> 00:35:30,750 and doesn't really tell you what it is. 758 00:35:30,750 --> 00:35:32,708 - They also had their cooks make decisions 759 00:35:32,708 --> 00:35:35,375 like overcooking the pasta for about a minute. 760 00:35:35,375 --> 00:35:38,167 So it matched this texture of a SpaghettiO 761 00:35:38,167 --> 00:35:40,667 more than it did an actual Italian pasta dish. 762 00:35:40,667 --> 00:35:44,583 - They're moving away from really serving Italian cuisine 763 00:35:44,583 --> 00:35:48,042 and instead creating a new kind of hybrid genre 764 00:35:48,042 --> 00:35:51,875 of Italian-American, mass-produced cuisine. 765 00:35:51,875 --> 00:35:53,792 - [Narrator] To test the concept's national appeal 766 00:35:53,792 --> 00:35:57,250 and serve as the chain's first restaurant location, 767 00:35:57,250 --> 00:36:00,375 they select a city where Americans from every corner 768 00:36:00,375 --> 00:36:04,792 of the nation travel to visit, Orlando, Florida. 769 00:36:04,792 --> 00:36:08,917 - It's brilliant. If you want to test the most Americans 770 00:36:08,917 --> 00:36:12,625 in the most agreeable frame of mind, 771 00:36:12,625 --> 00:36:16,208 cross-section of travelers, cross-section of spenders, 772 00:36:16,208 --> 00:36:18,750 people who are there with families 773 00:36:18,750 --> 00:36:20,583 and need to eat full meals. 774 00:36:20,583 --> 00:36:22,417 If you want to test a concept, 775 00:36:22,417 --> 00:36:25,000 Orlando is the perfect city. 776 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:28,083 - So we took over a restaurant down on International Drive 777 00:36:28,083 --> 00:36:29,542 called The Green Frog. 778 00:36:29,542 --> 00:36:32,750 - They begin to add terracotta tiles, the stucco walls, 779 00:36:32,750 --> 00:36:37,583 and they're, they're recreating this idea of a Tuscan villa. 780 00:36:37,583 --> 00:36:39,750 - They even come up with the perfect name, 781 00:36:39,750 --> 00:36:42,208 a name that would call to mind Tuscan hillsides 782 00:36:42,208 --> 00:36:44,417 and things that are naturally abundant in Italy. 783 00:36:44,417 --> 00:36:47,708 - The name was Olive Tree. 784 00:36:48,875 --> 00:36:50,708 - [Narrator] But just days before opening- 785 00:36:51,792 --> 00:36:54,417 [phone ringing] 786 00:36:55,917 --> 00:36:57,458 - This is Blaine. 787 00:36:59,583 --> 00:37:01,708 What are you talking about? What's the matter with it? 788 00:37:03,333 --> 00:37:05,583 - [Narrator] The team is thrown an unexpected curve ball. 789 00:37:07,458 --> 00:37:09,167 (receiver snaps into cradle) 790 00:37:09,167 --> 00:37:10,833 (exasperated sighs) 791 00:37:18,750 --> 00:37:21,458 - [Narrator] It's 1982, just days before the grand opening 792 00:37:21,458 --> 00:37:24,333 of General Mills new chain restaurant, The Olive Tree. 793 00:37:24,333 --> 00:37:26,875 When the team receives devastating news. 794 00:37:30,250 --> 00:37:32,750 - They want us to change the name. 795 00:37:32,750 --> 00:37:33,750 The Olive Tree's taken. 796 00:37:35,125 --> 00:37:37,500 - Back in the day, there were no computers. 797 00:37:37,500 --> 00:37:40,583 So at General Mills headquarters in Minneapolis, 798 00:37:40,583 --> 00:37:44,500 they had a room that literally had 5,000 telephone books. 799 00:37:44,500 --> 00:37:47,833 So somebody looked through all the telephone books 800 00:37:47,833 --> 00:37:51,042 to see if there were any other Olive Trees in the country. 801 00:37:51,042 --> 00:37:52,958 There was one in California 802 00:37:52,958 --> 00:37:54,417 and the owner of that trademark 803 00:37:54,417 --> 00:37:56,458 wasn't willing to give it up. 804 00:37:56,458 --> 00:37:58,875 So we had to call the sign company and say, 805 00:37:58,875 --> 00:38:00,875 you can't do Olive Tree. 806 00:38:00,875 --> 00:38:03,000 - [Narrator] With time running out before the grand opening, 807 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:06,500 the team is forced to go with an alternate name. 808 00:38:06,500 --> 00:38:09,583 - General Mills said in the interest of freshness 809 00:38:09,583 --> 00:38:13,708 and abundance, what if we call it Olive Garden? 810 00:38:13,708 --> 00:38:17,792 And everybody said, olives don't grow in gardens. 811 00:38:17,792 --> 00:38:19,125 It doesn't matter. 812 00:38:19,125 --> 00:38:23,750 - Olive Garden opens its doors on December 13th, 1982, 813 00:38:23,750 --> 00:38:27,208 but opening night gets off to a rocky start. 814 00:38:27,208 --> 00:38:29,708 - Guys, table six has been waiting for almost an hour. 815 00:38:29,708 --> 00:38:33,375 - We were way busier than we ever expected. 816 00:38:33,375 --> 00:38:35,500 That as the printer in the kitchen 817 00:38:35,500 --> 00:38:37,042 kept spinning out tickets, 818 00:38:37,042 --> 00:38:39,208 Mark Given would hold the tickets in his hand 819 00:38:39,208 --> 00:38:41,000 and not give them to the cooks 820 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:43,042 because they were overwhelmed. 821 00:38:43,042 --> 00:38:47,458 So as a result, the guest was getting a little antsy 822 00:38:47,458 --> 00:38:49,708 about how long it was taking to get the food out. 823 00:38:49,708 --> 00:38:50,917 - First impressions mean everything 824 00:38:50,917 --> 00:38:51,875 in the restaurant business. 825 00:38:51,875 --> 00:38:53,542 You need open night to go smoothly, 826 00:38:53,542 --> 00:38:54,917 or you'll be closed in a week. 827 00:38:54,917 --> 00:38:56,583 When a customer has a good experience, 828 00:38:56,583 --> 00:38:57,833 they might tell one or two people. 829 00:38:57,833 --> 00:39:00,042 When they have a bad experience, they tell ten. 830 00:39:00,042 --> 00:39:03,375 (kitchen sounds) 831 00:39:03,375 --> 00:39:04,417 - Breadsticks. 832 00:39:05,250 --> 00:39:08,833 Grace, take this to table six. 833 00:39:08,833 --> 00:39:10,375 Keep them coming, as many as they want. 834 00:39:10,375 --> 00:39:14,708 Alright? Hold on, salads, too. 835 00:39:14,708 --> 00:39:17,458 - Let's give them more bread. Let's give them more salad. 836 00:39:17,458 --> 00:39:19,083 Let's give them free cokes, 837 00:39:19,083 --> 00:39:20,917 which was unheard of at the time, 838 00:39:20,917 --> 00:39:24,042 and that kept the servers from having to apologize. 839 00:39:24,042 --> 00:39:27,708 But it also kept the guests going, wow, this place is great. 840 00:39:27,708 --> 00:39:29,500 Otherwise, we would've crumbled. 841 00:39:29,500 --> 00:39:32,042 - [Narrator] What starts out as an opening night solve 842 00:39:32,042 --> 00:39:36,375 becomes the Olive Garden's most recognizable signature. 843 00:39:36,375 --> 00:39:38,458 - Olive Garden was one of the first chains 844 00:39:38,458 --> 00:39:40,500 to market the idea of unlimited. 845 00:39:40,500 --> 00:39:42,667 Unlimited breadsticks, unlimited salad, 846 00:39:42,667 --> 00:39:45,542 and it gave everybody the idea of value. 847 00:39:45,750 --> 00:39:49,375 - As soon as you come in, boom, breadsticks, enjoy, 848 00:39:49,375 --> 00:39:53,250 let go, have lots of yummy, doughy, bready, 849 00:39:53,250 --> 00:39:56,042 pasta-y, saucy things. 850 00:39:56,042 --> 00:39:58,333 And at the end we hope you come back and people did. 851 00:39:58,333 --> 00:40:00,125 - It covered up a lot of the mistakes 852 00:40:00,125 --> 00:40:03,125 that we were trying to figure out in the early days, 853 00:40:03,125 --> 00:40:06,167 and it turned out to be the signature of Olive Garden, 854 00:40:06,167 --> 00:40:08,417 now for 40 plus years. 855 00:40:09,708 --> 00:40:11,458 - [Narrator] Spurred by the runaway success 856 00:40:11,458 --> 00:40:13,000 of their test location, 857 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:15,458 General Mills races to open new locations 858 00:40:15,458 --> 00:40:17,292 across the country. 859 00:40:17,292 --> 00:40:21,042 And by 1989, Olive Garden has opened 860 00:40:21,042 --> 00:40:24,542 close to 150 restaurants, 861 00:40:24,542 --> 00:40:27,417 becoming General Mills' fastest-growing business, 862 00:40:27,417 --> 00:40:30,542 further establishing a new food genre, 863 00:40:30,542 --> 00:40:33,000 Italian with an American twist. 864 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:35,125 - We were competing against every authentic 865 00:40:35,125 --> 00:40:39,125 Italian restaurant in every town in America, 866 00:40:39,125 --> 00:40:42,667 and we weren't authentic Italian, and we knew it. 867 00:40:42,667 --> 00:40:44,208 - [Narrator] By the end of the eighties, 868 00:40:44,208 --> 00:40:46,083 a poll is conducted by Restaurants 869 00:40:46,083 --> 00:40:49,833 and Institutions Magazine on the tastes of America, 870 00:40:49,833 --> 00:40:52,958 and more than 70% of Americans report 871 00:40:52,958 --> 00:40:57,792 that when eating out they choose Italian food. 872 00:40:57,792 --> 00:40:59,042 - Olive Garden helped ensure 873 00:40:59,042 --> 00:41:01,458 that Italian-American food is available 874 00:41:01,458 --> 00:41:03,792 at every corner of the United States. 875 00:41:03,792 --> 00:41:05,708 - When I was editor of Food and Wine, 876 00:41:05,708 --> 00:41:07,292 when we put Italy on the cover, 877 00:41:07,292 --> 00:41:08,833 when we put a pasta dish on the cover, 878 00:41:08,833 --> 00:41:10,500 it would always be a bestselling cover. 879 00:41:10,500 --> 00:41:12,250 That's just how Americans feel. 880 00:41:12,250 --> 00:41:13,708 I think people think of, 881 00:41:13,708 --> 00:41:15,042 of pasta as something 882 00:41:15,042 --> 00:41:16,042 that is actually 883 00:41:16,042 --> 00:41:17,208 quintessentially American, 884 00:41:17,208 --> 00:41:18,625 even though it's Italian. 885 00:41:18,625 --> 00:41:20,208 - [Narrator] Around the world, 886 00:41:20,208 --> 00:41:24,958 720 million SpaghettiOs are consumed every single day. 887 00:41:26,125 --> 00:41:28,500 - Amazingly, it's not until 2004 that Campbell's 888 00:41:28,500 --> 00:41:30,125 finally puts their name on the can. 889 00:41:30,125 --> 00:41:31,667 Campbell's SpaghettiOs. 890 00:41:31,667 --> 00:41:34,083 But Franco-American can still be found on the back. 891 00:41:35,208 --> 00:41:37,000 - [Narrator] Today, Prego is the front runner 892 00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:40,250 in a billion-dollar spaghetti sauce industry. 893 00:41:40,250 --> 00:41:41,833 - Look at how much shelf space 894 00:41:41,833 --> 00:41:43,667 tomato sauce gets at a grocery store. 895 00:41:43,667 --> 00:41:45,333 It's bigger than soups, 896 00:41:45,333 --> 00:41:48,083 it's bigger than apple pie, it's huge. 897 00:41:48,083 --> 00:41:50,042 - [Narrator] And Olive Garden is the biggest 898 00:41:50,042 --> 00:41:52,708 Italian-American restaurant chain in the world, 899 00:41:52,708 --> 00:41:57,875 with 893 locations generating $3.3 billion annually 900 00:41:58,875 --> 00:42:03,917 and serving 529 million breadsticks a year. 901 00:42:05,042 --> 00:42:08,375 That's 1.6 breadsticks for every US resident. 902 00:42:08,375 --> 00:42:12,750 - The explosion of the interest in Italian-American cuisine 903 00:42:12,750 --> 00:42:16,875 wasn't just pizza, it was about going out for pasta 904 00:42:16,875 --> 00:42:20,750 and lasagna and tiramisu and veal piccata and 905 00:42:20,750 --> 00:42:22,708 and all of these terrific things. 906 00:42:22,708 --> 00:42:25,833 We fell in love with Italian food, 907 00:42:25,833 --> 00:42:28,667 and I don't think we've ever fallen out of love with it.