Can Soup be as Comforting as a Hug? : Scientifically Speaking?
3rd February 2025
Andy Myers
We partnered with Heinz and Wonderland comms to find out if Heinz Cream of Tomato soup is as comforting as a Hug…with a little help from celebrity Sam Thompson.
When we feel stressed, have a bad day or things are not quite going to plan people reach out to things to comfort them. But comfort is more than just a nice feeling, it is an important psychological mechanism that we have a strong biological reason to seek out…
THE SCIENCE OF COMFORT
From the brain’s point of view, comfort is a powerful emotional response. While a little bit of stress is no bad thing, ultimately, our brains seek to make life easy for us; stress and low mood are both psychologically and physically painful.
In these states our brain releases cortisol, the stress hormone – but comfort is an easy antidote, helping decrease cortisol, and releasing dopamine bringing about positive feelings – the antithesis of a bad day. From this our brain’s reward mechanisms learn that comforting things bring positive returns, these powerful emotional memories are why we turn to the same things again and again.
THE POWER OF A HUG
Most of us probably don’t give a second thought to the hug we receive from a loved one, but this physical act of affection that is used in a wide range of scenarios from greetings and celebration all the way through to support and reassurance has a complex underlying emotional mechanism which has a profound effect on both brain and body. Feeling stressed? Had a bad day? These feelings cause your body to increase cortisol levels, making you feel stressed – but the simple act of a comforting hug has been shown time and time again to be a powerful antidote, reducing stress levels – so powerful in fact that a hug can even make you more resilient to upcoming stress – so that hug before you go into that interview, before your big presentation or before your kids have a big match – well there is some solid science behind why it works so well!
Comfort food is a common go to for people, with 65 percent of people agreeing food is an important source of comfort – and among those foods, what came out on top? Soup!
So soup is comforting? But is it as comforting as a hug? We turned to neuroscience to find out. Using EEG (electroencephalography) and EDA (electrodermal activity) we tested the taste of Heinz Cream of Tomato soup against an actual hug from a friend or family member, and against a whole host of other comforting things.
The result… well watch the video
And if you want some more details of the study and what we found, get in touch!
Neuroscience is a great way to being brand stories to life, helping to create unique content for PR.
Contact me for more information.
Andy Myers Director
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