These Spicy SpaghettiOs Are For Grown-Ups

Jelisa Castrodale
·2 min read

The classic canned dinner is heating things up with Frank's RedHot.

Courtesy of Campbell
Courtesy of Campbell's

When SpaghettiOs were introduced in 1965, they were marketed as the "neat new spaghetti [that] kids (and everybody) can eat with a spoon." The novelty of the canned O's was that they were "practically unspillable" and could be ready in half the time as a bowl of traditional pasta. Now, going on 60 years later, just straight-up spoonable spaghetti isn't as groundbreaking as it once was, so Campbell Soup Company has decided to spice things up — literally.

Earlier this week, the New Jersey-based company announced the debut of new Spicy Original SpaghettiOs, which gets its heat from a dash of Frank’s RedHot sauce. These just-released Os have "a mild-medium heat level" that Campbell says makes them more appealing to spice-loving millennials.

"SpaghettiOs and Frank's RedHot each have an undeniable fandom," Mieka Burns, the Vice President of Meals & Sauces at Campbell Soup Company, said in a statement. "Through this collaboration, we're excited to put a hot, more mature twist on a classic offering that our adult consumers grew up enjoying."

Related:The New Frank's RedHot Sauce Flavor is for Pickle Lovers

Campbell's says that millennials account for over one-third of the total yearly sales of SpaghettiOs, and in a survey of SpaghettiOs-eating adults between the ages of 18 and 35, almost half of them say they downed a can of the ring-shaped pasta at least once every week.

The SpaghettiOs and Frank’s RedHots collab is also presumably giving people what they want: 35% of regular O’s eaters say they add hot sauce or some other fiery spice to the dish, to "satisfy their "grown-up' palates."

Frank's RedHot has a (non-noodle related) new release of its own. Last month, the company dropped its new Dill Pickle Hot Sauce, a tangy blend of cayenne pepper and pickle juice. "While Frank's RedHot fans love our Original Cayenne Pepper Hot Sauce, we know they're also flavor seekers looking to try new, adventurous flavors, specifically through hot sauces," Valda Coryat, VP of Condiments and Sauces for McCormick & Company, said.

"This is largely driven by Gen Z hot sauce aficionados who seek out unique heat and flavor combinations." (Between this sauce and the kicked-up SpaghettiOs, if you were born somewhere between 1980 and 2010, you should be set.)

Campbell's SpaghettiOs Spicy Originals are now available at stores throughout the United States, and each can has a suggested retail price of $1.59. And yes, you can still eat them with a spoon.

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