Hot dog, it’s the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile!

The goal of every out-of-home campaign is to attract attention.

Driving around in a 27-foot hot dog gets you plenty of attention.

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile has been around for nearly 80 years, and it’s one of the best-known out of home campaigns, if not the longest.

That’s no wonder. Just to look at it makes you laugh. It’s an invitation to fun, and it gets called in for every imaginable event: town parades, kiddie events, promotions of all sorts, and even the occasional wedding.

And what a message it delivers about the product it represents: Oscar Mayer dogs are an American favorite, like baseball and summer parades, and of course they are quality dogs. Who else would send out a goofy truck in the shape of a hot dog but a company that’s really proud of its products.

The Wienermobile was the brainchild of Carl Mayer, the nephew of Oscar F. Mayer, who started the meat company in the 1880s.

Carl wanted a new way promote the company’s hot dogs, sausages and other meat products.

The first Wienermobile debuted in 1936. The 13-foot metal hot dog on wheels, designed by General Body Co. of Chicago, cost $5,000 to make.

Its two open cockpits allowed a company spokesperson-oftentimes Carl Mayer-to tout Oscar Mayer products to people on the streets of Chicago.

Outside of a stretch during World War II when its use was suspended, the Wienermobile has been on the road ever since. It’s become a part of pop culture.

It’s been featured in movies such as “Ladybugs” and “Another You” and TV programs including “Psych.”

Today a team of 12 drivers known as Hotdoggers tour the country in a fleet of six 27-foot long Wienermobiles. Their purpose remains the same-to connect with people on the street level.

Read on for more information about the Wienermobile.

This is one in a Media Life series on out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts

What

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.

Who

The Oscar Mayer Co., owned by Kraft Foods Group.

How it works

Oscar Mayer has a fleet of six Wienermobiles across the U.S., each assigned to a specific geographic region. Within each vehicle’s region the Wienermobile makes appearances at retail events, festivals and parades, as well as an occasional surprise personal visit with fans.

Each Wienermobile has two drivers, or Hotdoggers. In addition to promoting Oscar Mayer at events, the Hotdoggers post stories online at the Hotdogger Blog (http://hotdoggerblog.com).

The Wienermobile is also active on social media, particularly Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. In late January Oscar Mayer rolled out a unique social media campaign for the Wienermobile.

Called the Oscar Mayer #Tweet2Lease contest, people can win use of the Wienermobile for a day (up to 8 hours) when they use the hashtag #Tweet2Lease on Twitter. The company teased the campaign through the Twitter account of Motor Trend magazine, which claimed a “new car” would be put up for lease on Twitter.

Two days later it was revealed the “new car” was actually the Wienermobile. During the first week of the contest, nearly 6,000 people entered.

Markets

The Wienermobile makes appearances in hundreds of markets each year, large and small.

Numbers

More than 1,200 recent college grads apply to become one of the Wienermobile’s 12 Hotdoggers each year.

Wienermobiles are replaced every five to 10 years.

The six vehicles make a total of 500 stops per year across the country.

How it is measured

As with any social media campaign, Oscar Mayer can track how many people take part it in its promotions. It can also look at attendance at Wienermobile events and the number of promotional items given away.

What product categories work well

It may be a giant hot dog, but the Wienermobile helps promote all Oscar Mayer products, including cold cuts (B-O-L-O-G-N-A), bacon and Lunchables.

Demographics

Wienermobiles typically target family audiences at events around the country, such as parades and festivals.

What they’re saying

“The Wienermobile is an iconic American vehicle and one of the oldest examples of experiential marketing. To that end, the team behind the Wienermobile continues to keep the vehicles relevant across new and emerging channels.” — Ed Roland, senior experiential and scale marketing manager at Oscar Mayer.

Tags: Oscar Mayer, oscar mayer wienermobile, out of home, out of home advertising, wienermobile