Hormel claims that it does not object to use of the word spam as a "slang term," as long as pictures of the product are not used with such references. However, as the battle against "spam" heats up, Hormel is suing the startup Spam Arrest to can the use of its product name in other companies products.

Now its not like Spam didn't already have a bad enough reputation outside of certain niche groups, but I think Hormel is probably better off renaming its product. Its funny how a Monty Python sketch from Dec 15 1970 about Vikings eating breakfast while chanting the word "spam" over and over, turned the term into unwanted email.

According to Internet lore, the first spam attack took place in 1985 inside a multiuser game. Some wannabe Viking sent the message "spam spam spam" (and so on) to every player on the system until he got booted.