The name SPAM is an acronym of "Shoulder of Pork And Ham." It is unique, both in its computer form and in its canned pink form. The two words have more in common than you might think. The computer spam actually derives its name from a Monty Python sketch set in a café with an entirely Spam-centric menu. In typical Monty Python fashion, the characters (including a chorus of Vikings) break out into a song consisting almost entirely of the word “spam,” thus “spamming” the dialogue.
The sketch was a commentary on the influx of commercially available canned meats during a period of desperate agricultural rebound, the word made its way into the computer world as the annoying and excessive influx of unwanted mail or advertisements.
During the 1980s, online advertising companies attempted to acronym the word as “Sales Promotion And Marketing,” but online spam is worse than any meat or meat byproduct.