We’ve all heard the word spam before, and we’ve all unfortunately received spam too in abnormal quantities, whether it be through phone calls, emails or ads on our doorsteps.
But where does this negative word come from? Isn’t spam also a type of canned meat? 

Spam meat was first introduced to the world in 1937 by Homel Foods company, and believe it or not – it actually made it’s claim to fame during World War II.  

During the war, without many other options, people in the U.S ate canned processed foods, namely Spam.

Monty Python, the strange yet hilarious British group, made an iconic scene about it too later on, which also helped it become a more popular commodity over time. 

The comedic skit aired in 1970, and presented two customers having breakfast at The Greasy Spoon Cafe, with only one item on the menu to be ordered, which was of course the infamous Spam meat. 

Throughout the 3 minute scene, the word Spam is both said and sung endless times (103 to be precise), leaving viewers with the feeling that eating Spam is really only something that one would do as a last resort. 

It became said that Spam was a sort of ‘fake meat’ which is how spam became a common modern term for ‘fake calls’.

The first usage of the term in such a way remains under debate, but there’s no doubt that today it’s become a worldwide phenomenon (one that we keep trying to get rid of).