Spam Starts New Ad Campaign Today - Not Via Unsolicited E-mail
Spam. It's cheap, it's versatile, and I've been told that some people even find it edible. Sales of all canned food, including canned meat, are up in the recession, and Hormel's new strategy is to promote Spam as something different for people to rotate into their monotonous meal plans.
It's not like there's a shortage of Spam cookbooks out there as it is, but Hormel is offering exciting new uses for the stuff.
Sales of canned foods, especially canned meat, have been rising in the recession as people limit their food spending because they usually cost less than fresh fruits, vegetables or meat, said Marcia Mogelonsky, an analyst with research firm Mintel.
"They're an alternative to just eggs or a sandwich or whatever," she said. "It extends a meal. It adds a protein."
...
This year, the campaign focuses on customers who may be having trouble coming up with ideas for new meals each night, said Dan Goldman, senior product manager for the Spam family of products. Hormel is suggesting easy updates - like including Spam in pasta dishes - that offer uniqueness, he said.
Uniqueness. Yeah. That's the word I'd use.
New ads present Spam as spark for lively meals [AOL News/AP]
(Photo: catastrophegirl)
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I love Spam!!! Delicious by itself; delicious fried between two pieces of white bread; wonderful mixed with Mac n Cheese; amazing scrambled with eggs. It's cheap. It's substantial. It's the perfect food.
don't knock spam.
while lots of consumerist readers may be in a position to use other things, there are people suffering and they can use an alternative to add to their shopping list.
better than eating dollar menu slop me thinks.
"They're an alternative to just eggs or a sandwich or whatever," she said. "It extends a meal. It adds a protein."
Eggs are relatively cheap. So are peanut butter and bread. Both add protein, and are probably much healthier.
Their sales are up, without the extra "campaigning" they are pursuing now. Take the extra money you want to spend on advertising, and set it aside for a rainy day when sales are going DOWN.
Personally, I hate spam. I'd rather wait for a meat sale and buy 1/2 a boneless ham, cook and slice it up for future meals then freeze in individual bags.
@Ronin-Democrat: Oh definately. I personally hate the stuff, but it has a long shelf life, relatively cheap, does the trick. Nothing wrong with it.
I find it a little outrageous that they want to show people how spam can fit into every meal or the majority- Sales are up! People are eating it! There are cook books catered for Spam cookers... They should offer their loyal customers a chance for a free cookbook with 20 proofs of purchase.
In England, after WWII, food rationing went on basically through the early '50s. I knew a woman who had grown up in the this period and most of her meat was SPAM. SPAM all the time. She said she could remember the first banana she ever had a taste of; heaven.
There's nasty rumor I heard that formerly cannibalistic cultures in the Pacific eat a lot of SPAM because it tastes something like human flesh.
@johnfrombrooklyn: It definitely has a unique taste, and I have to admit to mocking Spam any chance I can have... but, uh, yeah, I really enjoy a fried Smoked Spam 'n' cheese sandwich from time to time.
It tastes vibrantly ghetto. Lots of flavor with a low price tag.
. . .
Although that jelly encasing the Spam still scares the ever loving hell out of me.
@thesadtomato: Let me assure you, SPAM tastes nothing like human flesh. yummy yummy human flesh. If only I could get to sink my teeth in one more time...
OMG I love spam sliced fried in a pan and made into a sandwich -- freaking great mystery meat
As a vegetarian, I probably have no right to weigh in on this topic, but it seems to me that if you can eat a hot dog, you should be able to eat Spam with no problem.
I think that Spam's perceived inedibility has more to do with its reputation than its actual quality.
@verucalise: If they can get more people to eat Spam and integrate it into their eating habits in arenas they usually wouldn't think to not only will they sell more now, but they will be more likely to continue selling more after the recession ends and people can afford better meats. Thats my guess at least.
Spam fried rice is amazing
Spam, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches are also nice.
I get a can of Spam in my stocking every year.
I used to like Spam when I was younger, but then I found what I was pretty sure was a toenail in it, and that put me off it completely for over a decade.
I'm a little better now, but the only way I eat Spam currently is in a musubi
To add variety to my meals at least once a week I order spam, spam, spam, spam, eggs, bacon, and spam for breakfast.
@Ronin-Democrat: A can of spam is about $3.49 and I don't think it is even a pound of meat. You can get plenty of fresh meat for cheaper. Burger is $1.89, chicken breast on sale for 99 cents, ground turkey $1.70. Spam is not cheap.
It is shelf stable meat. I would only consider buying it if I needed some sort of back up emergency food supply.
@rpm773: So you're saying that cannibalism costs an arm and a leg? No wonder there aren't so many of them.
@winstonthorne:
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.
I've never understood all the spam hate. Especially the "made of whatever is laying around the meat factory" thing. Spam is just pig shoulder! SPiced hAM. It is delicious, if a little on the salty side.
Also there is a Spam Museum in Minnesota and it is as weird and kitschy as it sounds. Spam gets such a bad rap.
@ekthesy: I tried to eat a vegetarian diet once... for health reasons... but it didn't work out very well for me....I tried like crazy to take in as much protien as possible from nuts and beans and fish but it wasn't enough... like after a year I had lost like 30lbs completely lost my breasts and you could count my ribs and my skin had this greyish look to it.... I felt like a zombie.... so I started eating meat again and poof like magic breasts returned gained like 10lb back and I felt great!
I was stationed in Hawaii in the late 80s, and the folks out there LOVE them some Spam. Occasionally, a grocery store will have a case lot sale, and folks will line up behind a semi truck to buy their cases straight off the trailer. I recall reading somewhere that Hormel actually uses Hawaii as a test market for new products in the Spam line, simply because the local folks like Spam, lots of them are likely to try a new Spam product and because they aren't shy about telliing Hormel what they think.
If you go into any okazuya in Hawaii (Japanese-style deli) on a weekday morning, you'll see trays and trays of Spam musubi for sale. Schoolkids and construction workers will be lined up to buy them. They make a great lunch.
@korybing:
I always thought it was extremely clever of Hormel to find a way to use the pork that was left over after canning their hams. Frugal and tasty.
@ekthesy: There's a big difference. I can get 100% beef hot dogs or higher-quality hot dogs. I can't get higher-quality Spam.
@missy070203: I also tried a vegetarian diet, but I only stuck with it for about two weeks because I realized that my options would be severely limited come grilling season. I have to have my burgers, hot dogs and steaks.
@Fuzzy_duffel_bag: The irony is that my grandma used to make Spam fried rice, and I loved it, and I ate it all the time. And now I can't stand Spam and I think it's because of all the fried rice I used to love.
@korybing: I think there's a Spam museum in Hawaii too...but I totally get why Minnesota has one, it's where Spam is manufactured!
According to Wikipedia, these are the ingredients in regular Spam: chopped pork shoulder meat with ham meat added, salt, water, sugar, and sodium nitrite to help keep its color. Spam's gelatinous glaze, or aspic, forms from the cooling of meat stock
I don't want to eat anything involving "gelatinous glaze" mmkay?
@ekthesy: Spam is just pork shoulder and ham, so it's not like you're eating some sort of mystery meat. Also, hot dogs aren't all cow assholes and chicken beaks anymore. That practice died out years ago and that kind of stuff is much more regulated now.
@pecan 3.14159265: "higher-quality Spam" I never thought I'd see those two phrases together.
@ekthesy: As a non-vegetarian and someone not afflicted by the knee-jerk anti-Spam reaction, I'd tend to agree. Ingredient- and nutrition-wise, it's pretty similar to hot dogs or bologna or any sort of sausage, really.
@pecan 3.14159265: I love grilled asparagus and kabobs OMG have you ever grilled fruit?! its amazing.... but I do agree nothing really takes the place of a good burger... those boca burgers and veggie burger just do not grill the same...
@bohemian: Exactly. I'd only keep it around with my canned veggies for a backup. I don't think chicken breasts are generally anywhere near .99 on sale, but a pound is probably always less than the $3.49 sticker price on Spam.
Well that solves the problem of what to feed your pet Zombie in post apocalyptic America
@johnfrombrooklyn: I grew up on spam hash and eggs and the spamburger, and although I have been repulsed by it in the last decade I think I'm warming up to the idea of eating it again. It reminds me of my dad
I don't know what it is, but the two times I tried Spam when I was younger I ended up getting sick so I'm not so willing to try it again.
@maddiesdad: Won't work. Zombies like brain meat, which tastes significantly different from the meat from other "parts". It's fairly hard to get to (and frankly I am not sure how those clumsy zombies can get through the skull anyways) but the reward is soft juicy and savory.
@pecan 3.14159265:
Hawaii has the highest Spam consumption af anywhere in the world--an average of 4 cans per person per year. Maybe it's good with pineapple?
Personally, I don't like Spam, but mostly because it tastes so salty.
@pecan 3.14159265: Any heated meat will form a "gelatinous glaze" when it cools. Ever put a pot roast in the fridge? A rosted chicken? If you don't drain every last bit of juice off it will become gross like that.
We used Spam (or Dak, the Danish equivalent, apparently) a lot when backpacking in the field in Central America (lightweight backpacking food not an option). Spam is about as portable as it gets for meat. I agree with whoever above mentioned the creep factor about the jelly around it...I could cope with them eating the Spam itself, but that jelly? Eeeeeee.
I stuck to the peanuts & my supply of Clif bars.
@missy070203: I love veggies and fruit, but wouldn't be able to just live off them. I love my steak too much.
People don't need much fat and salt in their diet. What they need is lean protein, water, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Go to your frozen meat, produce and bulk grains departments- you're going to find a lot of eats on the cheap there that will not only fulfill your nutrition requirements but extend your lifespan as well. I'd rather people who don't have much money to spend on food make themselves a good vegetable soup or chicken stir fry and brown rice than load up on saturated fat and salt.
Unless you're a nomad, winter's coming on and the hunting's been bad. Then spam would be nutritionally appropriate.
Woof, my Dad used to love that stuff. Try as he might, he could never get me to develop a taste for it.
They are welcome to advertise it any way they want, EXCEPT via unsolicited email :)
Low Sodium Spam is pretty good. The Tabasco varient is nice. Heck, haven't had a bad one yet.
Just cut it thin, fry it crispy and enjoy on toast.
@pecan 3.14159265: Chicken stock turns to completely solid gelatin (ie, aspic) as do other stocks.
It's not scary.
@labeled: I make my own stock, so yes, I know it does this. But it's the look of the Spam coupled with the glaze...eesh.
At a community festival here this weekend, they had a Spam carving contest. I didnt get to see the results, darn it.
I don't mind eating Spam, and fried Spam was a treat when I was a kid.
I have this nightmare where all there is to eat is spam. god I hate that stuff.. it tastes artificial and wrong..