The first indicator of a reputable Buffalo-style dish is it's unnatural iridescent orange coloring, which the people at Campbell's have really nailed with this recipe. But, the similarity stops right about there. While heating up this soup for a taste testing, I was reminded of what the late, great George Carlin once said about foods of this kind, "putting the word 'style' at the end of a word is a euphemism for 'it really isn't that thing at all.' Chicken-style broth? Means no (expletive deleted) chicken!" And his statement rings true today with this dish.

Now, let's be honest about one very important thing here... "Kickin' Buffalo-Style Chicken" is exactly what the creators surely intended it to be, and that is a passable approximation of a local favorite to be sold to the uninitiated. In other words, Campbell's isn't marketing this for Buffalonians; they are marketing it to people from the other parts of the country who have no idea what Buffalo-style chicken should be. Have you ever gone on vacation and ordered "Buffalo Wings" in another city? 99 times out of 100 it's a travesty. This soup approximates Buffalo-style chicken in the way that you might expect Mr. Magoo would give you an eye witness description of a mugger; he's not wrong per se, but at the same time he is a long way off from right.

In the interest of fairness, I should disclose that I may have approached this taste test with an unfair bias... I remember what the Buffalo Wing Chowder at the Lafayette Tap Room tastes like, or the same from any number of several local eateries, or recipes developed by friends in the area. I acknowledge that that is simply not fair to the fine people at Campbell's. They did their best to tap into something special that we have in this city in order to share it (and capitalize from it) with a larger audience. Their chemists/chefs would've been well served to contact any random Bills fan in the 716 area code and ask them to whip up a batch of Wing Dip, then they would have a sturdy jumping off point from which to build their recipe.

I wish this review didn't sound like a torpedoing. I have very much enjoyed severalCampbell's products over the years; they are my soup brand of choice. Sadly, in this instance, they missed the mark by a considerable margin (what locals may consider "Wide Right"). I felt the same way about their Beef Burgundy stew. As much as I wanted to enjoy it, I just couldn't get past the fact that I knew what the dish was supposed to taste like and that ruined it for me. I encourage anyone who reads this to pick up a can ofCampbell's Kickin' Buffalo-Style Chicken next time you are at the market and try for yourself, you may well enjoy it very much despite my impressions. Like art, like music, like so many things that stimulate the senses, at the end of the day you can only truly rely on your own opinions.