Why spam is called spam: the unexpected history of a popular term

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Nowadays, the word "spam" is associated exclusively with annoying unsolicited advertising, and half a century ago it was a brand name for a food product. But how did the name of a canned food product turn into a term for mass mailing?



The world first heard about “spam” on July 5, 1937, when the American company Hormel Foods Corporation introduced canned pork called Spam (pronounced “spam”). The new brand was invented by Ken Daino, brother of the then head of Hormel Foods Corporation, J. C. Hormel, and the meaning of this b2b email list name, according to Hormel, is known only to a small circle of former Hormel Foods executives. But it is believed that Spam (or SPAM) is an abbreviation for “spiced ham”, the main ingredient of the new canned food.

The product's launch on the market was accompanied by an active advertising campaign, in which the name Spam was often and very insistently mentioned, and then with the beginning of World War II and the entry of the United States into it, people started talking about "Spam" all over the world. Canned pork Spam became an integral part of the diet of soldiers not only of the US army, but also of the allies. Hormel Foods products were introduced in Great Britain and the USSR, as well as in the countries of the Pacific region, where American military personnel were present. In the conditions of hostilities, Spam was an indispensable product, but after the end of World War II, the desire to get rid of canned food stocks played a cruel joke with the manufacturer of the products.