The item was bought at a small supposedly trendy book store, left in its package and displayed on a fridge.

 
Is this art? Yes: It is art because it is presented as art. It is presented as something to be appreciated, not for its usefulness but, for what it is – a neat appearance fused with a socio-cultural and historical meaning.

As far as I know, one of the points of pop art was to go in the opposite direction as the dominant art trend of that time. Abstract expressionism (Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, etc.) was heavily backed by the rich Americans and their cultural, academic and media stooges. This so-called fine art of that time alienated the general public who just didn’t get it, while the American elite was praising just how beautiful the emperor’s new clothes were.

 
The other point of pop art was to make art come down to earth by using an everyday item or a celebrity as a theme in their work. I believe this was to make art accessible and to let art become part of people’s lives.

 
I guess one of Warhol’s points was to get people to look at everyday objects (e.g., a Campbell’s Soup can or a Brillo box) for their well-balanced design and cool color schemes, as opposed to taking them for granted: just using them up, throwing them out afterwards and never paying attention to their package aesthetic qualities.

Pop art became very popular in the 60’s. However, on the other hand, it stared to become absorbed into the rest of the world; in other words, it stared to become commercialized.

 
On this point, Warhol Campbell’s-Soup-Can Fridge Magnets Still in Package exemplifies this trend that is still on going. The item itself is an industrially manufactured product meant to be bought and used. Had the package been opened and each piece used as a fridge magnet, it would have been exactly that – a set of ordinary fridge magnets. But the entire package itself is displayed as something to be appreciated in and of itself, and being presented as such makes it art. It compels one to ask who Andy Warhol was and what his contribution to art is, and its legacy – and ask why the whole package is displayed.

  
It’s a testament to how someone appreciates the item for its neat appearance as well as what it can tell us about the art trends of our time and the society in which we live: e.g., how “everything” (including art) ends up becoming commercialized, despite art of our time taking a critical stance upon it.