One Hot Dog

You’re driving down the interstate when suddenly you’re passing a 27-foot long truck…shaped like a giant hot dog. Do you:

A: Floor it, putting maximum distance between you and this nutcase?

B: Pull over, let the wife drive because those really were some baaaaad mushrooms last night?

C: Tuck in behind the truck, following it to wherever it stops for a closer look?

If you chose C, you know an American classic when you see one. There’s nothing quite like the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. The idea of a hot dog-shaped vehicle was conceived in 1936 by Carl G. Mayer, Oscar’s nephew. Over time, it has become the cornerstone of the company’s marketing platform.

The novelty vehicle toured the Midwest until World War II’s gas rationing took the company off the road for the duration. It returned in the 1950s with new and improved editions built on more durable Dodge or Jeep chassis. A vintage Wienermobile from 1952 is exhibited at the Henry Ford Museum, in Dearborn, MI, where it’s one of the most photographed items in the museum.

“As a child growing up in England, there were three things that symbolized American culture for me,” recalls Tom Webster, senior VP/creative director, of event marketing agency US Concepts. “Pink Cadillacs, Starsky & Hutch and the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.”

The vehicles were piloted to schools, stores and hospitals, even to orphanages, by characters dressed up to portray the corporate icon, Little Oscar. These Little Oscars, in addition to driving, would give out Oscar Mayer trinkets like Wiener Whistles or Wienermobile postcards.

The Wienermobile was updated again in 1969, with a Chevy motorhome chassis and taillights taken from a Ford Thunderbird.

Then in 1988, the company formalized its training with the Hotdogger program. In a two-week stint at Hotdog High, recent college grads studied safe driving and event marketing — including grillings on what constitutes a good vs. inappropriate media opportunity.

By 1995, the success of the Hotdogger program, plus ongoing consumer and retail demand for visits, prompted Oscar Mayer to commission Stevens Automotive Corporation to build 10 new vehicles — the biggest yet (see sidebar).

Oscar Mayer deploys its assets strategically. Today, you’ll find six currently operative Wienermobiles based in the East, Southeast, Midwest, South, Northwest and Southwest of America. Hotdoggers crisscross America year-round except for their two weeks at school and a three-week break in December.

These ambassadors of all things beef and pork give away more than 200,000 Wiener Whistles each year. Introduced in 1951, these premiums were included in packages of Oscar Mayer Wieners in 1958 and have become the stuff of kid lore. Could anyone, even a rampaging mother, throw away a perfectly good Wiener Whistle? I think not!

Dan Duff, a former Hotdogger, has blogged of the time he left the vehicle parked while he and his co-Hotdogger took a dinner break; he returned to find this note in a child’s scrawl on the windshield:

“I love your Oscar Mayer mobile. I have been waiting for you to return, but my mother made me go to bed. I would love two (2) wiener whistles (one for my friend). You can leave them in my mailbox near the red door at 145 Main Street. Thank you very much. Sorry I didn’t get to meet you.”
(signed) Lindsey Mulligan

Without blinking, Duff acted on the principles taught at Hotdog High.

“We immediately packed up two Wiener Whistles, a watch and a Hot Wheels Wienermobile, and left them in the mailbox for Lindsey,” Duff says. “It was the least we could do for a fan. People asked why we smiled all the time when we drove the big dog around. Letters like this are the reason.”

Amazingly, the only requirement for retailers to get a visit from the Wienermobiles is that they stock Oscar Mayer products — not exactly a tough one. Visits are limited, however, by regional availability.

“The Wienermobile gets over 7,000 requests every year, so if it ends-up in your town, it truly is a special day,” says Ed Roland, Oscar Mayer’s mobile marketing manager. “Our event sizes vary dramatically. We have events with a a handful of people, events with a million-plus.” Most events have attendance that range between 500-1,000 people.

Today, Oscar Mayer gets more than 1,000 applications for the 12 Hotdogger slots filled each year, making the job one of the most sought after postgraduate titles around. Since Oscar Mayer guards its reputation like a dragon, whoever gets to drive one of these big dogs must be above the best, able to hande the company credit card and the keys to a gigantic 14-ton truck shaped like a huge wienie. The company won’t choose a 22-year-old kid whose previous biggest responsibility was discovering the location of that night’s kegger.

Duff describes in his blog his response when he was asked at the conclusion of his stint at Hot Dog High, “Why a car in the shape of a hot dog existed?” He was the only one in his class who really got the answer right — about the Weinermobile specifically, and event marketing in general. His answer must have brought a tear to the eye of every professor he studied under in the hallow halls of Hotdog High:

“I answered, ‘To sell more meat.’ That was it. No matter how much fun we might have going to Super Bowls, getting an article placed in The Wall Street Journal or applying some guerilla tactics to get on The Today Show, our job was ultimately created to help sell more meat. It does not exist solely to get media impressions, nor just to make kids smile….When it can no longer help sell more meat it will be taken off the road.”

Rod Taylor is senior VP of sports and promotion, CoActive Marketing. Share your favorite marketing programs via [email protected].

WHAT IS A WIENERMOBILE?

(Dog)mentions:

Height: 11 feet (or 24 hot dogs!)

Length: 27 feet (60 hot dogs)

Width: 8 feet (18 hot dogs)

Weight: 14,050 pounds (140,500 hot dogs)

The Meat:

Grilled Fiberglass hot dog resting on a lightly toasted fiberglass bun; converted Chevrolet 4-speed/W4 series chassis

The Condiments:

• Gull-wing door with automatic retractable step
• Hot dog-shaped dashboard
• Hotdogger voice-activated GPS navigational system
• Ketchup walkway (oops, looks like we spilled some mustard!)
• Condiment-splattered carpet
• Computerized control panel with a sound system to “relish”
• Removable “bunroof”
• Rear navigational camera
• Blue sky ceiling art
• Six mustard- and ketchup-colored seats
• Smiling front grill
• Official wiener jingle horn

Engine:

V-8, 6.0 liter 300 Vortec 5700; runs on high-octane mustard

Fun Facts

• Carl Mayer, nephew of Oscar Mayer, designed the first Wienermobile in 1936.
• The Wienerwhistle was developed in 1951. In 1958, this soon-to-be icon was included in packages of Oscar Mayer® Wieners.
• Since the inception of ‘Hot doggers’ in 1988, more than 300 college graduates have held the prestigious position.