Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 20, 1995 TAG: 9509200062
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LARRY NEUMEISTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Long
The jokes, the insults, the singing SPAMETTES, the SPAM sculpture contest at the annual SPAM Jamboree - they were one thing. But putting a wild pig in a Muppets movie and calling him Spa'am - that's the last straw for the Hormel Foods Corp.
The newest Muppet - Spa'am - is making his debut in a somber setting, a Manhattan courtroom where grim-faced lawyers debate whether his role in a movie will spoil the public's appetite for SPAM luncheon meat.
The trial this week features Hormel, SPAM's maker, against Jim Henson Productions, maker of Spa'am, high priest of the wild boars who worship Miss Piggy as their Queen Boom Sha-Ka-La-Ka-La.
SPAM luncheon meat made its debut in 1937. Spa'am is due to make his formal debut in February in the newest Muppet movie, ``The Muppets Treasure Island.''
But on Monday, video clips from the movie were shown in court after U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood rejected a request from Jim Henson lawyers to have it shown privately because the movie was not yet released.
``I am SPA!!! AM!!!, high priest of the boars,'' Spa'am is heard shouting in a booming, deep voice. ``Now you'll suffer the wrath of our queen.''
One Muppet mutters, ``Terrific, captured by crazy wild pigs.''
Kermit the Frog, always the diplomat, says: ``We mean no harm to your culture. We embrace all creatures of all nationalities.''
To boost its case, Hormel called to the witness stand Alan Krejci, the public relations chief for its Austin, Minn., company.
He testified the movie will be ``very harmful'' to the good name of the spiced ham product, a mixture of chopped pork shoulder meat and ham.
``The song or joke is one thing,'' he said. ``But to take a property that our company owns, to take a brand name that our company owns and to be able to merchandise off of that, is an entirely different matter.''
Since 1991, the company has found its own lucrative market with SPAM products.
It now markets SPAM T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, tennis balls, golf balls, refrigerator magnets, wrist watches and other items at stores, in a catalog and over the Internet.
It also sponsors a NASCAR Winston Cup car, driven by Lake Speed, that race announcers delight in calling the ``SPAM Can.''
The judge, who will decide the case after hearing more evidence this week, said it appeared Hormel would object to the Muppet character under any circumstance.
``So if Ms. Piggy were Ms. Spammy, you would still have a problem?'' Wood asked.
``That's correct, your honor,'' Krejci said.
Hormel Sees No Humor In Muppet Movie Character|
|By LARRY NEUMEISTER| |Associated Press Writer| NEW YORK (AP) - The jokes, the insults, the singing SPAMETTES, the SPAM sculpture contest at the annual SPAM Jamboree - they were one thing. But putting a wild pig in a Muppets movie and calling him Spa'am - that's the last straw for the Hormel Food Corp.
The newest Muppet - Spa'am - is making his debut in a somber setting, a Manhattan courtroom where grim-faced lawyers debate whether his role in a movie will spoil the public's appetite for SPAM luncheon meat.
The trial this week features Hormel, SPAM's maker, against Jim Henson Productions, maker of Spa'am, high priest of the wild boars who worship Miss Piggy as their Queen Boom Sha-Ka-La-Ka-La.
SPAM luncheon meat made its debut in 1937. Spa'am is due to make his formal debut in February in the newest Muppet movie, ``The Muppets Treasure Island.''
But on Monday, video clips from the movie were shown in court after U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood rejected a request from Jim Henson lawyers to have it shown privately because the movie was not yet released.
``I am SPA!!! AM!!!, high priest of the boars,'' Spa'am is heard shouting in a booming, low voice. ``Now you'll suffer the wrath of our queen.''
One Muppet mutters, ``Terrific, captured by crazy wild pigs.''
Kermit the Frog, always the diplomat, says: ``We mean no harm to your culture. We embrace all creatures of all nationalities.''
To boost its case, Hormel called to the witness stand Alan Krejci, the public relations chief for its Austin, Minn., company.
He testified the movie will be ``very harmful'' to the good name of the spiced ham product, a mixture of chopped pork shoulder meat and ham.
``The song or joke is one thing,'' he said. ``But to take a property that our company owns, to take a brand name that our company owns and to be able to merchandise off of that, is an entirely different matter.''
Since 1991, the company has found its own lucrative market with SPAM products.
It now markets SPAM T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, tennis balls, golf balls, refrigerators, magnets, wrist watches and other items at stores, in a catalog and over the Internet.
Jim Henson Productions lawyer Glenn Mitchell noted to Krejci that a proclamation issued by the municipality of Austin, Minn., included the line ``whereas SPAM has also good-naturedly been made fun of by all of the media at one time or another adding to its worldwide fame.''
``Isn't it true that Hormel feels that, if such third party jokes are done in good taste and are not disparaging to the product itself, that that is positive for the SPAM brand?'' he asked.
``If it's positive and done in good taste, yes we do,'' he said.
The judge, who will decide the case after hearing more evidence this week, said it appeared Hormel would object to the Muppet character under any circumstance.
``So if Ms. Piggy were Ms. Spammy, you would still have a problem?'' Wood asked.
``That's correct your honor,'' Krejci said.
by CNB