The enduring appeal of SPAM is a mystery to many of us. Launched on 5th July 1937 during the Depression era, it quickly caught on as a cheap ready-to-eat pork product with a long shelf life. Ideal for military use it found a ready market with the US Army who shipped some 45 million kg of the stuff overseas to feed the troops. But the Depression and the War are long since passed and still some 13 cans of SPAM a second are consumed around the world. It’s a mystery!
Also a mystery is the enduring popularity of the Bible, which like SPAM we might have assumed was a product only relevant to a another time. In a supposedly godless age why does the Bible remain year-on-year the best-selling book in the world, with some 100 million copies printed annually, and over 100 million downloads of an on line version. It’s a mystery!
Perhaps the reason SPAM still sells so well is that it provides a source of nourishment that is cheap, long-lasting, easily transportable, and satisfies the needs of those who turn to it. Come to think of it, maybe the Bible remains so popular for exactly the same reasons.
