Chicken of the Sea

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A portion of Chicken of the Sea's current logo

Chicken of the Sea is a brand of canned tuna produced by a company owned by Thai Union International.

1 Company
2 Product name
3 Popular references
4 Television commercial
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Company

Based in San Diego, California, the company 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 was so successful that soon 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. In 1997 the company was purchased by the investment group Tri-Union Seafoods LLC, made up of three partners:

1) Thai Union International Inc., a Thai conglomerate based in Bangkok and the then largest tuna packer in Asia and second largest in the world
2) Edmund A. Gann, American owner of Caribbean Marine Service, Co., Inc., a tuna-fishing fleet
3) Tri-Marine International, Inc., a global trading company formed in Singapore in 1972 dealing in tuna and tuna products headed by Renato Curto, president and majority shareholder.

The new owners changed the name of Van Camp Seafood Company to Chicken of the Sea International. In 2000, Tri-Marine International Inc and Edmund A. Gann sold their 50 percent interest in Chicken of the Sea to Thai Union International, Inc., leaving Thai Union the sole owner of the company. Chicken of the Sea International and Tri-Union International LLC merged into one company, still called Chicken of the Sea International.

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. In 2006, Thai Union formed a new division, Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods, to focus on sales of premium quality fresh and frozen seafood products. This division has grown quickly, helping to further grow Chicken of the Sea's brand awareness and distribution in the foodservice and retail industries.

[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 widely known in the Americas.

[edit] Popular references

In 2003, on the MTV reality television show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey exchanged this curious dialog:

Simpson: Is this chicken what 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: Baby, 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 a lot of people eat tuna, it's like a lot of people eat chicken?

Simpson: Oh. 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 hosted by Jessica Simpson, 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 "If you want fruit, not fish nor fowl Turkey of the Jungle makes this chicken howl! 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" known as "the turkey-flavored aspirin that comes in a tuna can" ("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." [1]

A popular Virtual Network Computing (VNC) client for Mac OS X is named Chicken of the VNC.

[edit] Television commercial

The 2005 U. S. commercial for Chicken of the Sea featuring an attractive woman walking through an office lobby, then entering an elevator where we see her exhale, whereupon her abdomen expands, revealing some accumulation of belly fat, followed by visuals and voice-over mentioning the product is low in fat. This commercial is a remake of a 2000 Thai commercial for Sealect Tuna, a product of Thai Union Fisheries which has owned Chicken of the Sea since 2000. The Thai version had a visual without a voice-over reading, "Suck in no more."^[1]