Hormel Foods’ Unique Terminology: Unwanted Emails over Spam

Employees at Hormel Foods, the company known for producing canned SPAM, are encouraged to call spam emails “unwanted emails.”

Back in the 1930s, who would’ve thought that the name of a canned meat product could stir up such a fuss in the realm of the internet? Hormel Foods, famous for creating SPAM, got a raw deal during the internet surge of the 90s. The term “spam” unfortunately took on a whole new meaning – spam emails.

But, get this: the naming of these annoying, unsolicited emails didn’t emerge from the internet era. It actually comes from a 1970 Monty Python sketch. Yes, you heard it right! This sketch, which features a couple struggling to order a SPAM-free breakfast from a SPAM-saturated menu, unwittingly gave birth to the term. The relentless repetition of the word in the sketch echoed the irritating repetition of unwanted messages online.

It’s totally understandable, then, that Hormel Foods isn’t thrilled about their product’s name being synonymous with the aggravating emails that flood our inboxes. Not exactly the best kind of publicity, right?