Spam!
SPAM. Who doesn't recognize it? A square can of pork, with the signature bold yellow letters on every can. Some think of it as a gross canned meat, others its just another part of their daily diet, to be chopped up with eggs or fried and put on rice.
Spam first appeared on the market during the Great Depression, similar to Kraft Mac and Cheese. It was invented by Jay Hormel, who founded the Hormel Company. The name was created in a naming contest held by the company. The man who made it up, Ken Digneau, did it by blending the words 'spiced' and 'ham' together.
Early spam ads were aimed at housewives, however a lot of people were hesitant to eat meat that didn't need refrigeration, so the early ad campaigns sometimes flopped. However, the military soon invested and found use in Spam. The United States military shipped over 100 million cans off across the Pacific Ocean. It was an inexpensive meal, it was didn't need refrigeration and it was meat, therefore filling. America also sent Spam in aid packages that were shipped off across the Atlantic Ocean, to Europe, where the towns, cities, and economies were devastated.
As the war came to a close in 1945, the executives at Spam needed a new plan to sell the spiced meat. During the war, 90% of Spams inventory had been shipped overseas and to Hawaii to help with the war effort. The demographic they had engaged had been soldiers and now, with in peacetime, they needed a new demographic.
To market to who they hoped would be their new audience, spam created a radio show called Music with Hormel Girls. Dubbed the 'spamettes', they somehow proved to be very popular. They wanted to inspire a certain relatability with these women. They reflected who the women of popular culture and of the majority were at the time. They were white, single and inspired a sense of patriotism with their audience. Funny enough, they had tried a similar campaign in the 1930's with Hormel's chili con carne.
The idea of the Hormel company worked. Spam sold the billionth can in 1959 and is now an honorary, if not important, part of the cuisine of places like Hawaii and the Philippines. Spam musubi, Spamsilog and spam fried steak.
Sources:
https://www.spam.com
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/history-of-spam-hormel-girls
https://time.com/4827451/spam-history-80th-anniversary/
This is super interesting! As a big fan of spam, it was fun to learn all of these facts about not only how it began, but how important it was in the war. I was intrigued by how they used a radio show in order to sell their product, something that I hadn't heard of before. But now that we aren't in the midst of a world war, I'm curious how Hormel as a company has changed. And apparently, it hasn't changed a lot. It has stayed true to its roots, trying to get lots of protein into their food, with long shelf lives. In South Korea, Spam is a traditional Christmas gift, a reminder of the US rations during the Korean War.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-hormel-spam/
This is a really interesting post! It is always surprising to see how such simple products have such a large effect on American society, such as how Spam created a new aspect of pop culture and helped feed soldiers as well as civilians living in war-torn areas. It also interesting how Spam is still a staple food product worldwide and is available in 44 different countries, with over 8 billion cans having been sold since 1937. However, Spam wasn't a favorite of many during WWII, as it received backlash and many complaints for soldiers that were all collected into a "Scurrilous File" by Hormel. Nonetheless, Spam has made itself into a culinary tradition whose legacy of suppressing starvation with its long shelf life lives on today.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.eater.com/2014/7/9/6191681/a-brief-history-of-spam-an-american-meat-icon