Chicken of the Sea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chicken of the Sea is a brand of canned tuna produced by a company owned by Thai Union International.
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[edit] Company
The company also markets a variety of other seafood items under the Chicken of the Sea brand name, including clam, crab, mackerel, salmon and sardines. The original company was founded in 1914 when Frank Van Camp and his son bought the California Tuna Canning Company and changed the name to the Van Camp Seafood Company. The phrase Chicken of the Sea, first devised as a way to describe the taste, soon became the product name, so successful that it also became the company name.
In 1963, Van Camp Seafood Company was purchased by Ralston Purina. In 1988, Ralston sold its Van Camp division to an Indonesian corporation, P.T. Mantrust, which had financial problems, and the primary creditor, Prudential Life Insurance, became the majority owner. When the company was purchased in 1997 by the investment group Tri-Union Seafoods, the name was changed to Chicken of the Sea International. The investment group sold the company in 2000 to Thai Union International, making it the sole owner. With the 2003 acquisition of Empress International, an importer of frozen shrimp and other shellfish, Chicken of the Sea's total annual sales climbed to $600 million.
[edit] Product name
Their advertising mascot, a blonde mermaid with a golden scepter, was introduced in the 1950s and soon became a familiar product icon. The company's official explanation for the name of their product:
- In the "old days," fishermen referred to the white albacore tuna as "chicken of the sea." It was called this because the white color and very mild flavor reminded them of chicken. The founder of the company thought this would be a unique name for a brand of tuna, and the Chicken of the Sea brand is now known worldwide.
[edit] Popular references
In 2003, on the MTV reality television show Newlyweds, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey exchanged this curious dialog:
- Simpson: Is this chicken that I have, or is it fish? I know it’s tuna, but it says Chicken? By the sea. Is that stupid?
- [Long pause]
- Simpson: What? Don’t make fun of me right now. I’m not in the mood.
- Lachey: You act like you’ve never had tuna before.
- Simpson: I’ve had tuna fish, like, sandwiches and stuff, like this.
- Lachey: You and I have eaten tuna like this before.
- Simpson: Why is it called "Chicken by the Sea"? Or "in the Sea"?
- Lachey: "Chicken of the Sea" is the brand.
- Simpson: Oh.
- Lachey: You know, 'cause we eat tuna, they like to eat chicken. It's like the chicken of the sea.
- Simpson: I understand now. I read it wrong.
Her question and Lachey's attempt to explain, brought so much media coverage that Chicken of the Sea's Senior Vice President of Marketing, Don George, capitalized on the incident. He invited Simpson to the company's October 2003 San Diego sales conference for promotional purposes. For an undisclosed fee, Simpson attended, receiving a standing ovation from the company's employees. After George explained the meaning of the product's name, he and Simpson sang the company's jingle, "Ask Any Mermaid," and she was given an apron and a basket of Chicken of the Sea products. She autographed cans for the employees. After the meeting, a video news release featuring a Don George interview and highlights of Simpson's appearance at the sales meeting was distributed. The story was picked up by close to 750 prime time affiliates, 10 national television shows, including E! and Inside Edition, and more than 22 cable shows. The company's PR firm estimated that this promotional event reached an audience of more than 38 million television viewers.
In Japan, tuna salad is often referred to as シーチキン (sea chicken), especially on onigiri.
In the Saturday Night Live episode where Jessica Simpson hosted, she mentions the time she thought Chicken of the Sea brand Tuna was chicken. The announcer asked, "What if you want tuna that is chicken?" and introduced "Tuna of the Dirt brand Chicken" telling her to "Look for the chicken with the fishing cowboy on the cover". Confused, Jessica decided she wants a piece of fruit instead, so he tells her about "Turkey of the Jungle brand Bananas" with the slogan "If fish grew on trees, they'd be Turkey of the Jungle brand Bananas!" which can be found next to "Pork of the Orchard brand Apples" ("Look for the apples with the picture of a turkey on the can!") The mascot is Porky the Scuba diving Chicken, who sings "This turkey is good bananas!" This gives Jessica a headache, so the announcer tells her about "Chicken of the Medicine Cabinet brand Turkey-Flavored Aspirin" ("Look for the tuna can with the chicken can on the label!"). The announcer ends with, "DynaCorp. Bringing you everything from Chicken of Sea brand tuna, to Shoepolish of the Outhouse brand typing paper. DynaCorp. The Kangaroo Rat of the Billiard Room."
In the Yu-Gi-Oh! episode "Attack from the Deep", when Yugi and his friends walk away from Mako Tsunami after eating his fish without dueling him, Joey says, "Forget this crazy Chicken of the Sea!"
A popular Virtual Network Computing (VNC) client for Mac OS X is named Chicken of the VNC.
