Wienermobile Down!
What matters is not that the Wienermobile tipped over. What matters is that the hot-dog-on-wheels got back up.
As you may have heard, a terrible turn of events befell one of Oscar Mayer’s mobile tubesteaks. In the late morning of July 22, a cocktail-sized Wienermobile (relative to usual promotional size) crashed into a Hyundai sedan on a Chicago-area highway, the Illinois State Police told NBC Chicago. It was subsequently towed away on a semi-truck flatbread flatbed. Based on available images, this model appears to be based on an early-BMW-era Mini Cooper.
Reports indicate that the professional sausage pilot, after impact, overcorrected in an attempt to regain control. “That center of meat is way high up, which makes it hard to handle,” says Hagerty Chassis and Natural Casing Engineer Frank Furter. “At that speed, we can only assume nitrates were involved.”
Bonus footage of occupants exiting the mini Wienermobile for your viewing pleasure. pic.twitter.com/AOJJC01g1p
— CHICAGO CRITTER (@ChicagoCritter) July 23, 2024
As a Weiner myself, this one hits home. You hate to see a fallen compatriot, rich in saturated fat or not. Regular readers may recall that I last jousted with the marketing wonks at Oscar Mayer last year, when the brand announced it was changing the Wienermobile’s name to “Frankmobile.” Oscar Mayer, as many predicted, never intended to keep the name in the first place; the switch only lasted four months, long enough to generate headlines and get the word out about the new, 100-percent-beef hot dog recipe.
Marketing stunts like that don’t cut the mustard with me, but I don’t relish seeing the Wienermobile toppled like it was this week. Here’s hoping the pig spends some time recovering in a warm blanket before it’s back on the road, good as new.
Years ago I was driving across Yellowstone Park and way off in the distance I could make out the faint image of a giant hotdog. I told my wife “Look baby, it’s the WienerMobile.” She said “Now what would the WienerMobile be doing in Yellowstone.” As it turns out the same thing we were doing, because parked on the side of the road up ahead were the wiener pilot and copilot enjoying the vistas. It wasn’t long before a number of cars started parking nearby for photo ops with the WienerMobile. Go figure, you’re in one of our nation’s most beautiful national parks, and for that moment a giant hotdog on wheels was getting all the attention.
How’s that Hyundai? You know it had to be painful getting rear ended by… nevermind.
Loved the story and all of the dog-over-dog comments! Simply great…Old skiing hotdogger…
It was actually the full size wienermobile but it had just gotten out of the pool.
Perfect George Costanza reference!
Will it be rebuilt/restored? If not can it be purchased? I would be interested in salvage and restoration.