My parents had fond memories of Spam (seriously, truly fond memories). My Mom is from East Germany and my Dad, Depression-era and military for life.
We ate it as dependents when we were low on money, probably the same as most state-side based kids.
My kids and grandkids view it as a punishment. Not so folk from other cultures. To quote from the article:
For Sunwoo, Specially Processed (a play about SPAM) is an opportunity to explore this disjuncture between American and Korean perceptions of Spam, what she calls “one of America's most misunderstood foods.” “Through this project, I learned about my relatives from North Korea for the first time,” she said. “My dad was born in Pyongyang, and my maternal grandmother in Kaesong. Spam kind of gave me permission to collect a more formal oral history. I asked my grandma about her experiences eating Spam during the Korean War. For her, it was like manna from the heavens. She was so hungry, and to have that was the most delicious thing.” But whenever Sunwoo’s grandmother (now 93 years old and residing in Washington State) takes a bite of Spam, there's something missing. It doesn't taste as great. “There are so many other things to eat now,” Grandma Chongyol said. “So why would I eat Spam?”
It is an interesting article and as you see here the stuff touched millions of lives.