Another Anniversary of the New Economy

Last week marked the 30-year anniversary of one of the things we love to hate: spam. Everyone assumes spam started with the likes of some shameless consumer marketer.

But it was actually the former Digital Equipment Corporation that launched the first spam when it announced its DEC-20 computer in 1978.

Digital’s announcement was sent to all ARPANET addresses on the west coast inviting them to attend one of its many launch parties taking place all over California. DEC was later chastised for breaking the ARPANET appropriate use policy, and a notice was sent out reminding others of the rule.

In 1978 nobody called this a spam - and the rule was never fully respected (having a captive audience is just too tempting for promoters). The good news (and the bad): the anti-spam industry was born. (BTW, if you know the origins of “opt-in and “opt-out” please let us know.)

But why the word, spam?

Some say spam’s roots originate in a Monty Python skit, in which a restaurant serves all its food with lots of spam. When a waitress takes orders from patrons, she mercilessly repeats the word spam in describing how much spam is in the spam-infused menu items, especially on spam days (and of course, it turns out that every day is spam day).

A group of Vikings (don’t ask) hear this and are inspired to write a song called Wonderful Spam – that is even more annoying than the waitress, The patrons (who are apparently not intimidated by the singers' Viking status) demand they shut up.

Hence, spam took on the meaning of repetitive annoyance. 

Who at Hormel Foods, maker of the canned "Shoulder Pork And Ham" lunch meat would have predicted such an outcome?