-By Elaine Wong

General Mills’ Progresso Light line got a “zero” rating from Weight     Watchers last year and watched the zeros rack up on its sales figures.

Now, the company is upping the ante with four new Light varieties, two reduced-sodium flavors and three microwaveable entries. Though analysts credited the line for appealing to women, a new TV campaign from Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, is clearly aimed at men.

A 15-second spot, via Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, breaks next week and touts the Progresso soup’s light, yet nutritious properties. “Eating light?” the wife asks her husband in the ad. “Light? No. Look at this. Big chunks of chicken, vegetables, pasta,” he says. The woman reads the label on the can and says, “Hmm . . . Progresso, 70 calories and endorsed by Weight Watchers. I call that light, big guy.” “Like a big guy light,” he says. Tagline: “Progresso. What a light soup should be.”
  
The effort comes after the Progresso Light line, which debuted last year, hit $77 million in sales, per IRI data ending the week of Aug. 10. Matt Arnold, an analyst with Edward Jones, St. Louis, credited the nod from Weight Watchers.
    
“There’s a ton of credibility associated with Weight Watchers. It’s a huge boost,” he said. A General Mills rep credited “a health trend” for the line’s continued success.
Meanwhile, chief rival Campbell is countering with its new low-sodium, healthy ingredients line, Select Harvest. The portfolio of 44 soups includes nine light versions at 80 calories or less. All use low-sodium natural sea salt. (A rep said ads will support the line, but declined further comment.)

Arnold said there’s plenty of room for both light soup lines to thrive in the current market: “Campbell is perfectly capable of rolling out a product [that will get] consumers to read the label. If done right, both companies can heighten consumer awareness of the benefits of soup as a healthy and convenient choice for a meal on the go. It’s a scenario where [more than one] can succeed.”