Jason Hron is a died-in-the-wool SPAM® brand aficionado – a lifelong fan even. Nevertheless, he raised an eyebrow when he began working on an event that was about to feature the world-famous product in a soft-serve dessert. (Think frozen custard but in a very unlikely flavor.)
The brand manager at Hormel Foods had a hand in the recent SPAM® Musubi Madness, a Los Angeles happening and the fruit of a partnership between Hormel Foods and the giant online food-and-beverage blog Foodbeast. For three weeks in September 2019, the two companies worked with the staff of the restaurant LONO Hollywood to create a little piece of SPAM® brand heaven in the City of Dreams.
By all accounts, the event was a success. Approximately 375 journalists, influencers and consumers filled the pop-up on Sept. 7, 14 and 21. They sipped SPAM® cocktails (in glasses fashioned from the familiar blue-and-yellow cans) and noshed on SPAM® corndogs and five varieties of SPAM® musubi, arguably the brand’s most popular dish. All of the items were infused with the flavor that has won over a couple of generations and is well on its way to having a foothold in a third. In fact, according to Hron, that was among the goals of Musubi Madness.
No one is more delighted than Hron, who understands well the demand for SPAM® products (and is now sold on SPAM® sundaes, by the way).
“Being an 80-year-old brand and still being on trend and able to create a buzz – that’s great,” he said.