The Vintage Canned Food Brand That Brought You SpaghettiOs

SpaghettiOs have been around long enough to be a childhood favorite for multiple generations. Today, the cans of O-shaped pasta in a savory-sweet tomato sauce are sold under the Campbell's brand, but for most of their history, SpaghettiOs were sold by a now defunct brand of canned goods.

The Franco-American Food Company was independently founded in 1886 as a brand of canned soups and pastas. In 1915, it became the first acquisition of Campbell's, which kept the Franco-American brand focused on pasta for decades. SpaghettiOs debuted as a Franco-American product in 1965, marketed as "the world's first spoonable spaghetti" and easier for children to eat.

Franco-American was an impactful brand in the mid-20th century. Its products enjoyed celebrity spokespersons like June Lockhart, who was famous for playing the mother on the popular TV show "Lassie" — a show which was also sponsored by Campbell's. In 1965, SpaghettiOs adopted a memorable jingle ("Uh-Oh, SpaghettiOs!") written by country singer Jimmie Rodgers. (Pop icon Barry Manilow sang a memorable rendition in 1970s ads for the canned pasta.) With prominence like this, why is Franco-American no longer around?

Franco-American continued as a separate brand for several decades, producing SpaghettiOs and other canned pasta. However, competition in the canned pasta business grew tighter, and by the early 2000s, Franco-American products were vastly outsold by brand competitors like Chef Boyardee.

Saddled with dead weight from an increasingly obscure brand, Campbell's retired the Franco-American label in 2004. This also spelled the end for some Franco-American products, including a vintage canned mac and cheese we'll never see again. Other products were moved to the Campbell's brand, including SpaghettiO's, which still carries a small Franco-American label on the back of the can.

Even though Franco-American is long gone, SpaghettiOs retain their classic appeal. Fifteen million pounds of SpaghettiOs may have been the subject of one of the worst canned food recalls in history in 2010, but in 2024, it came in first in Daily Meal's ranking of 7 canned pasta brands from worst to best. With decades on the market, it's no wonder the formula is perfect.