What do we call unsolicited emails?... Right you are. But, we have apparently, forgot about another tasty entity of the same name. Mmmmmm...

I've made some research and thanks to Brad Templeton, I learned that the first email spam sent was done in May 3, 1978. That was 25 years ago. I wasn't even born yet and they are sending spam. Geez. And get this, it was written on May 1 but sent on the 3rd. Pretty cool huh?

Anyhoo, to stop my mouth from smothering my computer screen, the other namesake I was referring to is SPiced hAM or Shoulder Pork and hAM which, I have just learned that a while ago. Don't look at me like that! I just eat the damn thing. Moving on. If you're wondering how they got the same name, allow me to divulge more on Brad's article.

The trouble began about six months ago when Spam Arrest, which specializes in blocking junk e-mail or spam, filed papers to trademark its corporate name.
Hormel sent the company a warning, telling it to drop its use of Spam, which is trademark-protected. Spam Arrest refused.

"If you ask most people on the street, they're going to say junk e-mail as opposed to the luncheon meat as their first description of what spam is. I think they're overstepping their bounds," said Brian Cartmell, chief executive of Spam Arrest. (CNN Reports)

What are Hormel's chances? The hard part is that Hormel has protected and invested on the brand name. The continuous use of the name will eventually not do good for business and that the public could confuse the meat product with the technology company.



On its official Spam Web site, the company outlines what it considers acceptable use of the word. Its guidelines include referring to the potted-meat product in capital letters.

It says it doesn't object to the use of spam to describe unsolicited commercial e-mail. But the company does object to the use of pictures of its product used in association with the e-mail term.

At any rate, I miss the taste of SPAM. The meat that is. YUM!