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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.
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 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".
I sure hope I don't get any emails about this.
A song would be nice though.
to email me: take my
"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
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
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
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.
That depends. Do you find burly men in Viking helmets attractive?
The name of the diet product was spelled "AYDS", IIRC.
Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
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!"
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.
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.
No, wait, that's chicken.
SPAM tastes like ham jello, only with a firmer texture.
John