Hot Dog

The food’s essence may not be my cup of tea, but I love the brand. Saturday’s Columbus Dispatch wrote of an Ohio State graduate who got the job of “hot dogger.” The lead was full of puns…

To be frank, a workday spent behind the wheel of a traveling hot dog is a meaty prospect.

The gig cuts the mustard — no buns about it.

It’s a wiener of a job that an employee might, well, relish.

Without a doubt, Laura Moller has heard all the puns.

The work requires her to crisscross the country to promote the brand by attending events, distributing coupons and “wiener whistles,” and driving the highly conspicuous Wienermobile — which stretches 27 feet.

“This is my dream job,” said Moller, a 22-year-old Cincinnati native.

Other people apparently craved the position, too: More than 1,500 college seniors applied last year for 12 spots — a la “hot-dog Harvard,” she quipped.

Ed Roland, mobile marketing manager for Oscar Mayer, recalled feeling “refreshed” after an early phone conversation with Moller about the job.

“She was a fun, bubbly personality,” said Roland, who runs the hot-dogger program.

“She had . . . a real driven attitude.”

I may not agree with what a hot dog is made of (my brother-in-law worked in a meatpacking plant years ago and hasn’t eaten one since), but I will give them credit for maintaining their very strong brand.

Who doesn’t remember the Oscar Mayer jingles from the 60’s and 70’s? Very memorable, and yet so very simple. Jingle-writing is a fading art. Here’s the story behind the original…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAz5Jc0DWpg]

And I especially remember this one from the 70’s, only for bologna:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmPRHJd3uHI]

Being a skier, the movie “Hot Dog” also comes to mind. Who could forget the climactic “Chinese Downhill” scene.

Here’s a more recent effort from 1998…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnljzqW1Pmk]