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.

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.

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