1477 Toona

We have an odd relationship with Tuna. Tuna is the fish with which most Americans are on familiar terms. There are tuna connoisseurs to be sure and, dare I say it, the occasional tuna–fish-ianado, but for the most part Mr. and Mrs. Joe America indulge in the evanescent pleasures of canned tuna.
Never mind that a freshly opened can of canned tuna smells suspiciously of cat food. A can of beef stew smells like Alpo too, and who hasn't put a dent in Dinty Moore from time to time?
We love our tuna. Tuna melts, tuna casseroles and yes, the amazing tunafish sandwich. Interestingly, one of the few sandwiches where we fell impelled to identify the meat of origin.
Seriously, have you ever asked for a chicken-bird sandwich?
We owe some of our familiarity with tuna to a classic ad campaign. Featuring the now 50-year-old Charlie the Tuna. Charlie was part of a StarKist Tuna campaign that attempted to portray how not just any tuna could get to be a StarKist tuna, and therefore presumably, a tuna you eat.
Charlie kept attempting to be caught and the tricks he tried always failed. Sort of a reverse of the Trix bunny or the not-so-wily coyote. How depressing, a fish that couldn't fin-agle.
Maybe that's why, when I watched Charlie the Tuna as a kid, I was struck even then by the poignancy of his attempt to commit what amounted to piscine suicide.
Really. Charlie is trying to be caught?
Worse was how StarKist introduced us to a fish, albeit in animated form, that we got to know, and then asked us to eat his brethren.
Of course, a fish in the flesh is different than a car-tuna. But still.
They accuse Charlie of having bad taste...
America, ya gotta love it.