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Branding SPAM Marketing

Spam can now pronounce you man and wife, brand and consumer in first-ever Spam wedding ceremony

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By Laurie Fullerton | Freelance Writer

April 25, 2017 | 4 min read

Brand loyalty is an ultimate goal for many marketers, but when filial loyalty and brand loyalty are joined, it is time for a celebration. Today, the love for a brand and the love of a couple brought the first-ever Spam wedding to reality when Mark I Love Spam Benson – who last year legally changed his name as a declaration of his love for the brand - wed his fiancée, Anne Mousley, in Austin, Minnesota. The couple, who hail from Liverpool, UK, were married in a Spam-themed wedding complete with Spam cake and Spam-colored bouquets of roses at the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota.

SPAM wedding

Mark “ I Love SPAM” Benson – who last year legally changed his name as a declaration of his love for the brand - wed his fiancée, Anne Mousley, in Austin, Minnesota at the SPAM museum today.

Spam is canned precooked meat made by Hormel Foods that was first introduced in 1937 and gained popularity worldwide after its use during World War II. Benson’s love for the Spam brand is rooted in family tradition, with his grandfather and uncle both having worked at a Liverpool Spam manufacturer when the brand first became linked to happy family memories. Knowing her groom would love nothing more than a Spam wedding, Mousley reached out to Hormel Foods. After learning about the couple’s story and Benson's love for Spam products, Hormel agreed to make it a reality.

“The Spam brand is truly lucky to have such a passionate fan base, and we’re always looking for ways to engage with them in a fun and unique way. When Anne approached us with the idea for their wedding to be hosted at the Spam Museum, we knew it was the perfect place for them. It’s not every day we get a request like this one, so it was an easy decision and one that we think demonstrates the fun, quirky side of the brand,” said Nicole Behne, marketing director of the grocery products division at Hormel Foods.

“We know how truly special and fortunate we are that the Spam brand has such an enthusiastic community of fans and is a part of meals spent with loved ones for generations,” said Behne. “We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make one of our most dedicated fans' [dreams] come true. It was an honor for the Spam brand to be part of Mark and Anne’s special, and very unique, wedding day.”

Behne notes that the enthusiasm for the wedding spread through the company, particularly when Spam's brand manager became ordained in order to officiate the wedding as Spaminister. The company also helped the couple plan their honeymoon to Spam hallowed ground - Hawaii - where Hawaiians consume up to seven million cans of Spam a year. The couple will attend the 15th annual Spam Jam on April 29 with their two children.

“I am beyond appreciative of my fiancée for making my dream come true, and to the Spam Museum for hosting a wedding day that exceeds anything I could have imagined and that I will cherish forever,” said Benson. “Marrying Anne was amazing alone, and the icing on the cake was getting to say our vows at a place dedicated to the brand that I love and holds so much nostalgia for me."

- Minda Smiley contributed to this report.

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