As the recession wears on, it gets hard coming up with new ideas for cheap eats, especially for those who are used to only making reservations for dinner.

Source: Spam.com Sales of Spam have been soaring in recent months.

Enter Spam. Yes, the much-maligned meat-in-a-can, the other pink meat.

Hormel

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[HRL  Loading...      ()   ] is serving up a new advertising campaign that offers consumers ideas about how they can spice up mealtimes with the low-cost pork product. The new push comes at a time when Spam sales have risen at a double-digit percentage rate.

Hormel ratcheted up advertising for the 72-year-old brand last year with a national print campaign, its first in five years. But its latest effort includes several television commercials and a Web site with the campaign's "Break the Monotony" tagline that is chock-full of recipes.

Have macaroni on hand? Try Spamaroni. A tomato? How about Spam Lettuce Wraps? Or perhaps Spam Spicy Kabobs.

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The commercials, created by BBDO, Minneapolis, are humorous and portray Spam as a hero rescuing food from boredom.

In one spot, a hunk of cheese, out on a date with her hapless macaroni beau, is about to suffer through another meal at the same restaurant they've been going to for years, when Spam comes in and livens up the evening. Cue the party music.

Another depicts a classroom of eggs listening to their teacher, who is taking roll call in a monotone voice, as his students struggle to stay awake. "Egg...Egg...Egg..." Again, Spam enters, and some of the eggs literally "crack up."

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