Why is it called spam? The surprising story behind one of the internet's most famous words

Spam origin history: Every inbox has them. Unwanted emails promising deals, promotions or offers you never signed up for. Most people simply hit delete without thinking about why these messages are called "spam."

The answer goes back long before email existed. It begins with a canned meat product launched in the 1930s, passes through a famous British comedy sketch, and ends with one of the earliest marketing emails ever sent, as per a report.

The story starts with canned meat

In 1937, Hormel Foods introduced SPAM, a canned pork product that quickly became a household name.


During World War II, it was shipped to soldiers by the millions of cans. Because it was inexpensive and widely available, SPAM seemed to turn up everywhere, whether people wanted it or not, as per a MailPro report.

That reputation for being impossible to avoid would later give the internet one of its most recognizable words.

A comedy sketch gave the word a new meaning

In 1970, British comedy group Monty Python aired a sketch set in a café where nearly every item on the menu contained Spam.

As a customer searched for something without it, a group of Vikings sitting nearby repeatedly sang "Spam, Spam, lovely Spam, wonderful Spam," as per the MailPro report. They kept repeating the word louder and louder until every other conversation disappeared beneath the chorus.

The sketch turned Spam into a symbol of endless repetition that overwhelmed everything around it.

Online users found the perfect comparison

Years later, people using early online communities began facing a similar problem.

In chat rooms, bulletin boards and Usenet groups, some users repeatedly posted the same messages until they drowned out normal conversations.

Fans of Monty Python saw the similarity immediately. They started calling the repeated messages "spam," and the name quickly spread across the internet, as per the MailPro report.

By the time junk email became common in the late 1990s, the word had already become the standard way to describe unwanted, repetitive online messages.

The first spam email came even earlier

Interestingly, the first unsolicited marketing email arrived before the term "spam" became popular online.

On May 3, 1978, Gary Thuerk of Digital Equipment Corporation sent a promotional email advertising new computers to about 400 people on ARPANET, the early internet, as per the MailPro report.

Without an email marketing tool, he reportedly entered recipients one by one until the address field could hold no more.

Many people were unhappy about receiving the message, but Thuerk later claimed it generated around $13 million in sales. He eventually became known as the "Father of Spam," as per the MailPro report.

FAQs

What did SPAM originally refer to?
SPAM is a canned, pre-cooked pork product introduced by Hormel Foods in 1937.

Who sent the first spam email?
Gary Thuerk of Digital Equipment Corporation sent it in 1978.