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Spam-maker Hormel Spends to Reclaim Name
An anonymous reader writes "Hormel, the company behind Spam (the meat product, not the unsolicited email), is launching an advertising campaign in Europe in an attempt to remind people it has been around a lot longer than offers of generic Viagra and fake Rolex watches. The BBC claims it will cost Hormel £2m."
I for one welcome our new spiced ham overlords!
Ads for Spam... go figure.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
MORE SPAM PLEASE!!!
I don't suppose they're getting the word out via a "direct email" campaign . . .
As an aside, is /. being /.ed today? It sounds silly put like that, but the page loading times seem to be up quite a bit and my attempt to submit this first time got a 503.
Perhaps in addition to their TV advertising, they could use other means? I know the internet is a really powerful place. Perhaps by individually contacting Europeans they are able to put their name to good use again. But we need to make sure all Europeans are contacted. I suggest Hormel engages in a direct electronic mail campaign to contact every European. To make sure the message is understood, I suggest the use of ALL CAPITALS.
That is all.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
..to advertise SPAM? I mean, SPAM as in SPAM, not as in SPAM.. Ah, you know what I mean:-)
Hormel, the company behind Spam (the meat product, not the unsolicited email), is launching an advertising campaign in Europe...
I can see the marketing discussion now:
Marketer 1: "We need to get the word out about Hormel."
Marketer 2: "Hey, I know! Why don't we email millions of people and remind them about our product!"
Marketer 1: "Great idea! I've got some email addresses right here on this CD..."
most people outside of America don't like spam (of either variety). I want babette before I want the tinned spam.
Hormel says "It's a Meat!"
Maybe they should have a contest to name what animal it came from?
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
"Spam" is the unsolicited bulk email, "SPAM" is the spicy canned meat.
The folks at Hormel have asked that people spell the name correctly when referring to their meat product - in all capital letters, i.e. SPAM.
See their Legal and Copyright Info page.
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
Maybe they'll just play Monty Python a bit more on the BBC
-- i am jack's amusing sig file
I can't imagine anything more vile than the so-called potted meat product that is Spam. It's the multiplicative zero element of food: you add Spam to any other dish and the whole thing tastes like Spam (as opposed to the multiplicative identity element of food, tofu, which when added to any dish takes on the flavor of the whole dish).
Given that even before Spam took on the unwelcome meaning of unsolicited commercial email that it was more a war-time inexpensive way to get protein into the diet, and that even in such dire times it tasted awful, wouldn't it make sense for Hormel to just drop that product line altogether?
I realize some Hawaiians might be upset, some fan websites would be put out, but think of the money they'd make selling rare cans of Spam on eBay.
I, For One, Welcome our new Spam Spamming Spammers.
I wonder if SpamArrest changes their name to spamArrest would Hormel drop their challenge?
It's a tough spot, though, because they've allowed some "dilution" of their name by not having defended it completely. I can't really blame them for wanting to shed the negative image of being associated with UCE, but I don't know what else they can do except give up their 60 year old name (usuall a really, really bad idea.)
John
Put ads out with the reactions of the spammers when they get their spam back, but in the original form. Slogan could be something like "They spammed us, we SPAMMED them".
and will they still want us to use all caps?
Wonder what it'll be made of...
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Slashdot is slashdotting itself.
Buy a Rolleks, it's cheaper!
I got 5 for $24.95 only at the Times Square!
Take your chance, buy now!
Grundgesetz * 23. Mai 1949 - 30. November 2007 - http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/
I sure hope I don't get any emails about this.
A song would be nice though.
to email me: take my
Bloody vikings!
The days of the digital watch are numbered.
...send everyone in the world an email about their campaign.
He put his boots up on the table and made a face. "The sig," he smirked. "You can waste your life in search of the sig."
spam = stuff posing as meat
"Seattle attorney Derek A Newman added: 'Spam has become ubiquitous throughout the world to describe unsolicited commercial email. No company can claim trademark rights on a generic term.'" Ah, but SPAM has been around since the 1930s...long before Al Gore invented the Internet.
Talk without offending, listen without defending
I thought in Soviet Russia spam - the meat product - was made out of people:-)
By far the most SPAM I have recieved this week has been from Bush and Kerry.
I get about 3 e-mails a day from each not to mention all the terrible comercials I have had to watch.
I am still going to vote today but only becuase it is so important.
I just it will all end after todays election.
What is the point of a pan-european product name campaign when you renamed the product for european languages already.
It has only been introduced since the nineties because the product was mentioned so much in American comedy's. They already heard of it, why not try to sell it to them. But wait, they heard of it in a negative tone so lets change the name first. Don't you just love the wisdom of marketing?
Till now people who had no knowledge about this company will now assume this is the company that makes Meat AND also sends Spam email....
"Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
Sorry for this, but what must be done must be done.
...spam spam spam egg and spam; spam spam spam spam spam spam baked beans spam spam spam... ...or Lobster Thermidor a Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and spam.
Man: You sit here, dear.
Wife: All right.
Man: Morning!
Waitress: Morning!
Man: Well, what've you got?
Waitress: Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam;
Vikings: Spam spam spam spam...
Waitress:
Vikings: Spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam!
Waitress:
Wife: Have you got anything without spam?
Waitress: Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Wife: I don't want ANY spam!
Man: Why can't she have egg bacon spam and sausage?
Wife: THAT'S got spam in it!
Man: Hasn't got as much spam in it as spam egg sausage and spam, has it?
Vikings: Spam spam spam spam... (Crescendo through next few lines...)
Wife: Could you do the egg bacon spam and sausage without the spam then?
Waitress: Urgghh!
Wife: What do you mean 'Urgghh'? I don't like spam!
Vikings: Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!
Waitress: Shut up!
Vikings: Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!
Waitress: Shut up! (Vikings stop) Bloody Vikings! You can't have egg bacon spam and sausage without the spam.
Wife: I don't like spam!
Man: Sshh, dear, don't cause a fuss. I'll have your spam. I love it. I'm having spam spam spam spam spam spam spam beaked beans spam spam spam and spam!
Vikings: Spam spam spam spam. Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!
Waitress: Shut up!! Baked beans are off.
Man: Well could I have her spam instead of the baked beans then?
Waitress: You mean spam spam spam spam spam spam... (but it is too late and the Vikings drown her words)
Vikings: (Singing elaborately...) Spam spam spam spam. Lovely spam! Wonderful spam! Spam spa-a-a-a-a-am spam spa-a-a-a-a-am spam. Lovely spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam! Spam spam spam spam
i dont know if its still there, but this is a good quote i came across on the spam.com website:
"Ultimately, we are trying to avoid the day when the consuming public asks, "Why would Hormel Foods name its product after junk e-mail?"
-Hormel Foods
http://www.spam.com/ci/ci_in.htm
Monte Python didn't make it sound good, but they made it sound as if it didn't have anything to do with email.
See what I've been reading.
Maybe they should use the $2Mil to filter out the lips and assholes. They could set up a lucrative head-cheese contract with all of the extra "meat".
To be fair, what ever it is is mighty tasty.
What if Digg added local news and a Slashdot inspired comment karma system? ---
http://houndwire.com
a known known, a known unknown or an unknown unknown?
I take the spam and dice it up in to 1cm cubes. Then I take a cube and slice it as thin as possible. Lay it in the center of a big hamburger bun, and top with lettuce, tomatoes, 1/2 lb barbecued ground beef, onions, and ketchup.
Makes a great sandwich -- just don't eat the middle.
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
My mother lives in Albert Lea, MN, not far from Austin, MN. Austin is a Hormel town, and every year they have a Spamfest celebrating the stuff. There are parades, music, and free handouts of spam and other goodies. A couple years ago she got a Spam piggy bank.
It just sounds like Hormel is expanding spamfest to encompass the globe. It's not horrible stuff. It tastes good grilled, fried, diced and mixed with macaroni and cheese..... And it doesn't ask you to click now to unsubscribe.
Head-cheese \Head"-cheese\, n. A dish made of portions of the head, or head and feet, of swine, cut up fine, seasoned, and pressed into a cheeselike mass. or if you prefer: A jellied loaf or sausage made from chopped and boiled parts of the feet, head, and sometimes the tongue and heart of an animal, usually a hog.
What if Digg added local news and a Slashdot inspired comment karma system? ---
http://houndwire.com
the Flying Circus skit from Monty Python... every sing along!
y %20Pyt hon%20-%20Spam.mpg
(35 Mb MPG)
http://www.flashdance.cx/mpg/eexoe7YE7/Mont
-- Game Developers: Stop porting badly-textured games from crappy console systems!
Don't they realize that they're already getting an immense amount of free advertising? You can't tell me that UCE is negatively impacting Hormel's bottom line. That's laughable at best. They should keep their money and put it towards advertising new products. SPAM will always be around. UCE isn't going to change that one bit. If it ain't broke, don't spend an arm and a leg trying to fix it.
Does this mean that the federal goverment can prosecute Hormel for spamming about spam?
Mercy was given to me by Christ...I must give the same to others.
Hormel might do well to focus more on international sales. Here is Japanese fusion dish known as ,SPAM MUSUBI which is most delicious (jpeg).
Pork is so revered in China, where the pig symbolises good luck, fertility and virility, that the meat and pork are the same word! Hormel would do well to add a large, smiling, tumescent, gold bling wearing, surrounded by bitch pigs, pig to their package label for sales in China. It might help to put him on a Harley as sort of an inside joke for the more cosmopolitan Chinese.
While they do have turkey SPAM I've yet to see an 'all beef' version. With one world government on it's way, and if you believe Jack Van Impe an Islamic government at that, Hormel would do well to push an all beef product,
Down the road, when they've got the market cornered, it will be time to branch out into flavored varieties. For example "All Beef Spam with SQUIRREL BRAINS" should sell well in SE Tennessee.
SPAM Lyrics, Python
Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle!
the Flying Circus skit from Monty Python... everyone sing along!
y %20Pyt hon%20-%20Spam.mpg
(35 Mb MPG)
http://www.flashdance.cx/mpg/eexoe7YE7/Mont
-- Game Developers: Stop porting badly-textured games from crappy console systems!
Their lawsuit against SpamArrest is the only time that they've done anything that even looks like they might be trying to get rid of the name. And considering they targetted one of many companies that use the name, I think it's more likely their own version of fighting against email spam. SpamArrest, prior to that lawsuit, had been caught sending email spam.
That depends. Do you find burly men in Viking helmets attractive?
Spam for Spam? Err, no quite.
Tell the truth and you won't have so much to remember.
One way to show evidence that a company protected against dilution is to advertise the trademark nature. I've seen the "Xerox has two R's" ads (the second R being the registered trademark circle R symbol), reminders from Kleenex that people use "Kleenex brand facial tissue," etc. Google is starting to run into this problem, with people using the verb "to google." Google has been defending against this.
Hormel doesn't care if "unsolicited email" is called "spam," they just need to make sure that people also know that it's a lunchmeat (allegedly).
If "children will be exposed to .. spam .. well before being exposed to .. SPAM", why is the campaign "aimed at the over-45s"?
So they had a dieting product with the same name as a disease that ultimately causes people to waste away.
That's gotta suck.
It's not wasting time, I'm educating myself.
If that was entirely the case, Hormel wouldn't have problems with products like "SpamBuster" or "SpamRandomName" or "SpamBuyMySpamRemover." I don't know any SPAM* products besides Hormel.
It sounds like Hormel is being a bit silly. They can't help that their product's name is associated with such a vile thing. Corporations first reactions to such circumstances are want of utter control--"if we can control the word spam, then this won't happen." They need to find an alternate method. I'm not calling unsolicited internet advertising anything else besides spam, and you can't make me capitalize your meat substitute product either.
They could pull off some funny advertising concerning the confusion between the spams. That seems like a positive way of dealing with the ordeal. But stop with the name whoring. Words are not to be trademarked and sold.
..I evade spam by definition. Any spam!
WE DON'T NEED NO BLOG CONTROL.
Ah, now there is quality entertainment!
SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM,
SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM,
Wonderful SPAM,
Glorious SPAM!!!
The low fat SPAM and Turkey SPAM versions
are actually quite tastey,
fried in the pan like slices of bacon,
and served with scrambled eggs!
It's debatable that they've allowed any dilution of their name, in the legally defensible sense. TM's apply to a particular product type. If Hormel let anyone making a meat product call their product "spam" (with any capitalization) that would clearly be dilution. Other food products might also conceivably be called dilution. But software is not food, so while Hormel *can* sue spam software makers for trademark dilution, they probably would not win, and any outcome of that case would probably not affect Hormel's lawsuit against Spamme, makers of fine canned hamburger. :-) Note that I don't know the specifics of this case. If they're using labelling, imagery or something else that attempts to explicitly tie them to Hormel's product, Hormel might have a point.
Remember the rule of thumb: the existence of Apple Insurance doesn't in any way dilute the trademark of Apple Computers.
It's rare that you're presented with a knob whose only two positions are Make History and Flee Your Glorious Destiny.
DE@R LUSER
IAAM A PR1INCE WIS!TH SHAREZ| IN SPAM LtD. DIS SPAM IS G00D U SHULD BY IT N0w!
http://www.spam.com/
http://www.spam.com/
http://www.spam.com/
http://www.spam.com/
http://www.spam.com/
http://www.spam.com/
SPAM product tuna sPAm spam Meat food veg drink pork beef google smap mail hormel tins market ham
They need to change their name and get on with life. The languages of the world now own "SPAM".
I believe when any trademark or copyright gains a critical amount of popularity, it should immediately enter the public domain. (Sounds ridiculous, right?) But think about this, at some level of popularity, ideas (including words like Spam) simply become part of our culture. And once something becomes part of our culture, I say we own it.
Take that happy birthday song for example. Does anyone honestly believe someone should be able to collect royalties on public performances of happy birthday? Supposedely it is copyrighted. But I say you can't copyright culture.
Listen, all I'm asking is do we want to live in a world where we don't own our own culture? Our culture is a profound part of each one of us and to be told that it's owned by a corporation for 100+ years, I find it deeply troubling.
So...
Repeat after me:
"You can't copyright culture"
"You can't copyright culture"
it is also a source of Tin - used in the foil of many a hat.
And as a bonus, as the parent posted: Maybe they should have a contest to name what animal it came from? - it provides intellectual stimulation by teaching various nerds different family, genus and species - like Equidae, Equus, and Asinus. and 10% Canis Aureus and/or Familiaris
is whether Hormel will license the Monty Python skit for Spam in their new campaign?
When I first saw this article title on the RSS feed, I actually thought that it was about some convicted UCE-sending dude called Hormal who was spending money on a PR exercise to clear his name.
Just goes to show how deeply entrenched the new meaning of 'spam' is - I think it'll take a lot more than $2m to shift the synapses of the average netizen...
ohhh they could advertise by sending out emails .. oh waiit
He was referring to the Monty Python "Spam" skit that gave spam email it's name. The skit had guys dressed as Vikings chanting "Spam spam spam!"
Most people in America don't like Hormel SPAM either.
---
Mod me down, you fucking twits. Go ahead. I dare you.
(I read with sigs off.)
Spam in the place where I live (ham and pork) Think about nutrition, wonder what's inside it now (oh boy) Spam in my luchbox at work (it's the best) Really makes a darn good sandwich any way you slice it at all If you're running low, go to the store Carry some money to help you buy more The tab is there to open the can The can is there to hold in the spam Oh, spam on the table at home (ham and pork) Think about selection, are there different flavors now (let's eat) Spam in my office at work (it's the best) Think about the stuff its made from, wonder if it's mystery of meat If you need a spoon, keep one around Carry a thermose to help wash it down Now, if there's some left, don't just throw it out Use it for spackle or bathroom grout, now Spam in my pantry at home (have some more) Think of expiration, better read the lable (oh boy) Spam breakfast, dinner, or lunch (it's the best) Think about how it's been precooked, wonder if I'll just eat it cold Now, once you start in, you can't put it down Don't leave it sitting or it'll turn brown The key is going to open the tin The tin is there to keep the spam in Oh, spam (spam) Ham and pork Think about nutrition, wonder what's inside it now (oh boy) Spam (spam) It's the best Really makes a darn good sandwich any way you slice it Spam in the place where I live (have some more) Think about addiction, wonder if I'm a junkie now (let's eat) Spam in the place where I work (you're obsessed) Think about the way it's processed, wonder if it's some kind of meat Spam in the back of my car (ham and pork) Spam any place that you are (ham and pork) The tab is there to open the can (spam any place that you are) (ham and pork) The can is there to hold in the spam (spam any place that you are) (ham and pork) Oh spam
If memory serves me right, Thermos was a classic example of failure to protect a trademark. Apparently, even employees of the Thermos company itself referred to other vendors' products as "a thermos", in writing, and *poof* they were screwed.
$0.02,
ptd
I'm an animal lover -- they're delicious!
For a minute there, I thought the article was
going to be about Hormel changing the name of SPAM.
That would be sad.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Unintentally the Monty Python troop is to blame for the name. I can't see Hormel holding them responsible but we need to come up with a pithy new name for UBMs. If nothing else we as the techs that started it. Meaning the collective target audience of Slashdot should help with the reclaiming of the name. I propose BMs. Anyone else got a good name that can be printed in the public press?
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
Is it just me or does that website look like it's from 1998? It has a bad color scheme, confusing links, blinking gifs (we all love those!) and for some reason there is embedded quicktime in there somewhere. It really reminds me of the geocities site my little sister made like 8 years ago. hers was nicer though.
I've had spam emails that were better put together than that website. Oh the ironing!
swanker than you
This reminds me of a story told by Ben Rich, the head of Lockheed's Skunk Works during the late 70s through the early 90s. One of the first projects they had under his tenure was to re-open the U2 spy plane assembly line and produce some new, updated versions of the airplane. However, the Air Force didn't want the bad vibe associated with funding new spy plane work (especially from our allies and not-so allies), so they required that the new airplane be called the "TR-1," hopefully shielding themselves from the cloak-and-dagger stigma associated with the old U2. As Ben Rich tells the story, when the press got hold of the news, they immediately took to calling the new airplane the "TR-1 Spy Plane." Nowadays, they don't even bother with the TR-1 part, and just refer to it as the U2 again.
Poor Hormel. Spam will ALWAYS be Spam, I'm afraid.
This sig is a test. If this had been an actual sig, you would be reading something quite a bit wittier than this now.
In World War 2 tins of Spam were sent to the Soviet Union to assist their war effort (as food, in case anyone wonders), and were known as 'second fronts'.
Cue Soviet joke from about 1943:
Q. What is an 'old believer'?
A. Someone who still believes in a second front.
(The Soviet Union was trying very hard to persuade the other Allies to open a land based second front to relieve the pressure.)
There's a very good book, 'Russia's War' by Richard Overy, which is even better than Stalingrad by Anthony Beevors.
On spam (as opposed to Spam), I've wondered for some time why we don't just call it 'ejunk', sent by 'eejots' (an attempt to reproduce the rather attractive Irish pronounciation of 'idiots').
look at the cute little pig slashdot uses to link to topic of spam. i think hormel outta be paying /. . I also like the ff2 characters for the role playing link, can anyone name both?! i can't seem to remember i think the old guy is galileo and he could cast meteor with 9999.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I agree that Spam is lack luster, but it does have one use. It is great while camping. Not because it tastes any better, but because it keeps forever without having to keep it cold. You can be in the backcountry for weeks and still have meat ( I use the term losely ) to eat.
I seem to remember a story, possibly urban legend but I don't think so, about a serial killer in Germany that killed people and then processed them and sold them as Spam. I'd look it up, but I'm at work and our proxy server blocks everything good but /.
It's just ham.
No, wait, that's chicken.
SPAM tastes like ham jello, only with a firmer texture.
John
but they will never reclaim the name
But there are other relations too!
Spam contains all the nasty bits of farm animals that no one else wanted, spam email contains all kinds of nasty bits.
You don't know the true origin of spam email or Spam meat.
Everybody says they don't like Spam, but the company still makes it - someone must buy it. No one likes spam, but it keeps coming - someone is buying those spam products.
I just made these up, but there must be more, I smell a conspiracy involving spam, Spam, SPAM, spammers and spam!
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
"OH SHIT, THERE'S A HORSE IN THE HOSPITAL!"
nt.
How about instead of paying 2 million dollars to ad agencys trying to wrestle back the name instead do something much more constructive. Fund software that will STOP spam in its tracks, put up reward money for spammers etc.. That would be much more effective if we didn't have to use the word anymore.
My UID is prime is yours?
How many people are aware that Mr. Hormel is a large contributor to NAMBLA?
Even though spam is associated with junk email, the name is OUT THERE, big time. Just go with it, and be happy you arent Xerox.
Hormel is trying to once again gain popularity for it's near-dead product. I guess they thought the only way to gain new wealth was to create a stupid campaign... How sad....
Tastes just like a big square hot dog; its pretty much the same stuff as hotdogs.
In response to Hormel's ad campaign, grocery shoppers all over the world decided not to bother spending any money on reminding Hormel that they all thought SPAM was nasty crap long before they ever had E-mail addresses.
Bloody awful. It's not just ham, it's ham with added fat and other mechanically separated bits and pieces, colloquially known here as "lips and ar$£holes" sharing this graceful moniker with sausages (wieners to you). Now I think about it, that particular phrase could equally apply to Usenet, or even this hallowed site at times ;o)
Resistance is futile. Reactance buggers it up.
I was at a resturaunt with the wife when a homeless man walked in, paid .25 to refill his drink cup. He sat down reached into a dity grocery store bag, and pulled out a can of SPAM. He gave it a good shake, pop open the top, removed the meat and drank the Juice, Gel, whatever that stuff is and then ate the SPAM. I moved to a different seat.
...to filter out all the posts suggesting Hormel should advertise their product via mass emailing.
Why don't they just rename their product? "SPAM" really isn't descriptive enough anyway. The new name could evoke the heady boquet and flavor of SPAM. I'd like to be the first to suggest that they rename it to "SPUKE."
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Would it have been too much to have given proper credit to "Weird Al" Yankovic?
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
Especially since SPAM is extremely popular in Hawaii and Guam. Just the number of recipes using SPAM from Hawaii is nothing short of mind-boggling.
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Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing