Soup Kids Rapping Pitch for Campbell

The Campbell Kids--the chubby-faced cartoon cherubs who have helped advertise the soup company for more than 80 years--are getting hip.

The Campbell Soup Co. said the characters will make their rapping debut next week in a television jingle.

“Rapping is mainstream today,” Campbell Soup spokesman Kevin Lowery said. “Children love rap.”

Created in 1904 to help sell condensed soups, the Campbell Kids have portrayed chefs, football players, sailors and other characters in vogue over the years. In the 1980s, they trimmed down for a weight-conscious America.

Next week, the cartoon characters don elastic pants, sneakers and T-shirts and rap with an animated teddy bear on the label of a can of Teddy Bear Soup.

In the commercial, the bear says, “The Campbell Kids call me Ted,” and the dancing kids respond, “This soup’s full of bears. A teddy bowl full of fun. Gonna make your mouth happy. Be your fa . . . fa . . . fa . . . favorite one.”

Campbell began selling the product Aug. 1.