Campbell’s executive Martin Bally claims brand’s products are for ‘poor people’, company hits back

Campbell's Company executive Martin Bally is on leave after he was recorded saying he doesn't buy the brand's products and that only "poor people" do. Photo / Martin Bally

Campbell’s Company executive Martin Bally is in hot water after he was caught slamming the food brand’s products in an expletive-laden rant.

In an alleged recording taken at a November 2024 meeting, the vice president and chief information security officer can be heard disparaging the company’s signature tinned soups.

“We have s*** for f***ing poor people. Who buys our s***”, Bally told employee Robert Garza in the revealing clip, Metro reported.

“Now that I know what the f*** is in it. Even a can of soup, I look at it ... bioengineered meat.

“I don’t want to eat a f***ing piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer. Do you?”

Attorney General of Florida James Uthmeier said the state’s Consumer Protection will be investigating allegations that Campbell’s meat is lab-grown.

The Campbell’s Company is now being investigated by the state of Florida following Bally's comments. Photo / Scott Olson, Getty Images

But the company has hit back through a statement, insisting Bally’s comments are “not only inaccurate – they are patently absurd”.

Campbell’s said Bally is merely an “IT person, who has nothing to do with how we make our food” and denied using bioengineered meat.

“All our soups are made with ‘No Antibiotics Ever’ chicken meat, meaning we don’t allow antibiotics to be added to the feed, water or any commercial vaccines used by our chicken suppliers.”

According to the Independent, the recording is part of a lawsuit for wrongful termination brought by Garza, who alleges he was fired from his role as a security analyst when he showed the file to a supervisor.

He told Click On Detroit he had started secretly taping Bally’s one-hour-and-15-minute rant because he had an “instinct that something wasn’t right”.

The pair were set to discuss his salary when the IT boss began complaining about the quality of the company’s soup and describing Indian employees as stupid.

“He thinks he’s a C-level executive at a Fortune 500 company and he can do whatever he wants because he’s an executive,” Garza said.

Bally has been put on leave while Campbell’s investigates the matter.