Franco-American Once Made a SpaghettiOs-like Product with UFO Theme

Franco-American's SpagettiOs are the dominant leader in the canned pasta space. The Cambell's product is synonymous with the stuff and has become a generic name for the meal. You might associate the SpagettiO name with Chef Boyardee but the Chef's line-up includes products like ravioli and Beefaroni, not SpagettiOs. So what do the canned pasta wars have to do with UFOs?

The television commercial below is from 1983. We're talking peak UFO-pop culture with E.T. debuting in theaters the year before. Franco-American also did some merch tie-ins like this UFO-themed bowl for the pasta.

The Franco-American product line also included, according to Wikipedia, "RavioliOs, Macaroni and Cheese, and regular spaghetti, along with beef, chicken and turkey gravy varieties sold in cans and jars."

If you want to own a bit of this 80s nostalgia, you may be able to snag some promotional material for the UFO pasta line from eBay.

Retro UFO Pasta Commercials

Not to be left out of the cultural trend, Chef Boyardee did produce a product called Cosmic Kids:

A name you don't think of in the canned pasta game, Heinz, also put out a UFO-themed product. Their differentiator? They were 3-D. Check out the great and likely totally forgotten animation for this product: