the two great american cans

Like the Campbell's Soup can, there's something great and American about holding a can of Budweiser. Budweiser's long tradition of clever marketing (the Budweiser girls have been around since 1883) has launched their can design into the status of an icon, much like the Campbell soup can. Here's a little background on the king of cans.

The iconic Campbell's Soup can dates back to 1898 when CEO Herberton Williams demanded the company adopt the color scheme of his alma mater, Cornell University. Since it's debut at the 1900 Paris Exhibition, the can's design has hardly changed. It has since flourished into an imperishable symbol of American suburbia.

More than half a century later, Andy Warhol created a series of Campbell's Soup prints in homage to the lunch he consumed every day for twenty years. For years, Warhol turned down commissions from Campbell's arguing that "the whole point would be lost with any kind of commercial tie-in." Eventually, however, the self-proclaimed fame whore gave in accepting a hefty sum of money in exchange for additional silkscreens.

Here's to product design with heritage.

Posted by Madame Lamb on Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 1:09 PM