TRYING TO BE CHARITABLE TO A MUCH-MALIGNED PORK PRODUCT

I’ve never seen even one second of The Sopranos, meaning that all I can talk about is the incipient Spam-related turf war between Burger King and McDonald’s:

For many Americans, spam is a four-letter word for unwanted e-mail. In Hawaii, Spam is a beloved comfort food, with cans of the gelatinous pork bricks found in virtually every cupboard.

Hoping to cash in on Hawaii’s love affair with the pinkish meat product, Burger King Corp. last month began offering Spam for breakfast — going head-to-head with rival McDonald’s Corp., which has been featuring Spam in the islands for years.

Burger King is offering the Spam Platter — two slices of Spam nestled between white rice and scrambled eggs. The fast-food giant also offers the Croissanwich or Biscuit Sandwich with Spam.

I grew up eating Spam–occasionally, and mostly at my grandparents’ house–and was actually out of high school before I realized that some people thought the stuff was gross. I was amazed to learn a few years ago that Spam is tremendously popular in many of the Pacific Rim nations. In Korea they even give Spam as gifts. That’s done here in the US as well, though mostly by college students who have been invited to birthday parties for people they really don’t like all that well.

I’m not expecting Spam McMuffins or a Whopper with Spam, Spam, Spam, eggs, bacon, sausage, and Spam at my local drive-thru any time soon. But it would be nice if Spam, the product, got a little more love than it does.