New Spam Site is, ah, Food for Thought

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And now, spam.com, brought to you by those staunch fighters against unsolicited e-. . . er, wait just a second. Brought to you by Hormel.

Hormel?

That's right, the company that makes the real Spam, the meat food product with a capital "S."

For years the company stood by as Internet users turned its Spam brand name into a derisive label for unwanted junk email. But now the Hormel Foods Corp. is looking to the Web as way to enhance the brand's image, according to a New York Times report.

Hormel recently launched the official Spam Web site. Company officials said they reserved the domain spam.com years ago, along with hormel.com, hormelfoods.com and others.

In the past, the Times said, Hormel was defensive about Spam's pejorative use, and the company even attempted last year to stop Sanford Wallace, the self- proclaimed king of unsolicited commercial email, from using the word "spam" to promote his business. But if you can't fight 'em, maybe the best strategy is to promote 'em.

At the new Web site, Hormel offers an official Spam fan club and sells a line of Spam-logo clothing that includes boxer shorts and baseball caps. There's also a Spam history that starts with the product's debut in 1937.