Campbell’s fires executive who mocked the people who eat its soup

Campbell’s fires Martin Bally, who was a VP in the company’s information technology department, after an audio recording of him mocking the soup produced by his company and the people who eat it surfaced recently.

Robert Garza, a former Campbell’s employee, released an alleged year-old audio recording of him speaking with Bally in connection with a lawsuit he filed against the company. In the lawsuit, Garza alleges retaliation for raising complaints about Bally.

In court documents filed by Garza’s lawyers, it is alleged Bally said, “Campbell’s is ‘highly processed food’ for ‘poor people’ and that Campbell’s uses ‘bioengineered meat’ and ‘chicken that came from a 3D printer’.

In a statement, Campbell’s said it learned of the litigation and heard segments of the audio recording only on November 20, 2025. Upon review, they have determined the voice on the recording is in fact Bally.

“The comments were vulgar, offensive and false, and we apologize for the hurt they have caused. This behavior does not reflect our values and the culture of our company, and we will not tolerate that kind of language under any circumstances,” the statement said. “The comments heard on the recording about our food are not only inaccurate—they are patently absurd. The chicken meat in our soups comes from long-trusted, USDA approved U.S. suppliers and meets our high quality standards. All our soups are made with no antibiotics ever chicken meat. Any claims to the contrary are completely false.”