Oscar Mayer Wienermobile: Columnist rides in iconic 27-foot hot dog, shares story, video
I never in a million years thought I'd cruise down the road in a Wienermobile, but hotdoggers Chloe Van Caeseele and her co-pilot Mary Clare Kammer gifted this Social Butterfly the thrill. To share Oscar Mayer's 27-foot hot dog with the community, Van Caeseele aka Chlo-wienie and Kammer aka Chili-Cheese MC had been hosting events at grocery stores, parades, county fairs and festivals for the past 11 months.
Snap-happy attendees captured selfies and photos with the Wienermobile and hot dog cutouts to share with friends, co-workers and family. The brand ambassadors handed out Wienermobilia including the iconic wiener whistles.
Wienermobile hauls buns to Chesterfield County
Five-year-old Seeley Day relished the moment to visit the Wienermobile while it was parked at the Iron Bridge Road Kroger in Chester on May 9. The cutie patootie was in her element. She beamed from ear to ear when she received a Wienermobile whistle. "She loves hot dogs, so much so, that she dressed as one for Halloween last year," Seeley's aunt Sarah Day of Chesterfield, who prefers cheese-filled hot dogs, said.
Cooper Chapman, 12, of Chester checked out the hot dog on wheels with his dad Steven and brother Emmett, 5. "It's really cool and bigger on the inside than most cars."
Jennifer Carden of Surry pulled her nephews Matthew and Nicholas out of school to attend the rare Wienermobile event at Kroger.
"We were here earlier in the morning with my husband, son, sister and their daughter. I grabbed the others later because it only comes around once in a great while," Carden, a cool aunt, said. "The last time I saw it was in 1995 at a Walmart grand opening in Easton, Pennsylvania. I still have my whistle, but the color has darkened up."
I said to Carden, "I bet you keep it in your jewelry box like I do." She laughed and responded, "Yes, I do."
The biggest Wienermobile fan I met on that sunny, Thursday afternoon was Jamie Bradford of Colonial Heights. She saw the unique vehicle back in 2009 at the same Kroger. At that time, she requested an extra whistle for her sister Amanda who was pregnant with her nephew.
"She was at the hospital in labor, so I gave her the whistle to alert me when she was having another contraction," Bradford said. "If I was out of the room, I told her I'd be right there."
Bradford, now a vegetarian, still loves the Wienermobile. "It's fun. My mom tried to get me in a commercial to be the baloney kid. She took me to a tryout," Bradford shared. "I used to fold a slice to make a smiley face with two eyes and a mouth." I also remember having done the same thing as a child.
This go around, Bradford snagged an extra whistle for her friend Kristi's 40th birthday. Hotdogger Chloe Van Caeseele kindly crafted a special birthday card to present with the Wienermobile souvenir.
"I thought about being a hotdogger, but it was a bigger commitment than I wanted to make," Bradford said.
Admiring the Wienermobile for the second time, Tammy McKoy Davis of Chesterfield said, "I mean... you can't help but smile. It's so nostalgic. I made a special trip here to take multiple selfies with props and everything."
"I wish my granddaughter Lilly was with me. She'd get a kick out of it," said Stephanie Zoller of Dinwiddie who spotted the Wienermobile when she was on a grocery run.
Oscar Mayer: Wienermobile tours
Besides me, a few lucky fans got to tour the inside of the unique vehicle. It has a "bunroof" for extra light and six ketchup and mustard seats each embroidered with a tiny Wienermobile. I looked up and saw white, fluffy-looking clouds. "It's always blue skies in the Wienermobile," Van Caeseele said live on Facebook. I was asked to be careful not to slip on the ketchup and mustard design on the floor as I exited.
The hotdoggers let this lucky dog ride "shotbun" and made sure I buckled my "meatbelt." As we journeyed through a wee bit of Chester and Chesterfield, we waved at curious spectators smiling, pointing and snapping pics. As Kammer drove, she occasionally hit the horn which plays the Oscar Mayer jingle. Fun stuff indeed!
This lucky dog interviewed the co-workers while we cruised through Chesterfield County. I learned that hotdoggers must be college graduates with bachelor's degrees. Van Caeseele from Hornell New York graduated from Binghamton University, and Kammer from Kirkwood Missouri graduated from University of Missouri.
All hotdoggers start as a class in June and go through two weeks of training called Hot Dog High in Madison, Wisconsin. "We learn how to become a hotdogger which includes our 40-hour driver's training," Van Caeseele, said. Each year, only 12 top dogs who were able to cut the mustard are entrusted with Wienermobiles. Hotdoggers travel in pairs and are reimbursed for on-the-road expenses.
"We travel to a new city once a week, and usually do about four or five events each week," Kammer said. Her father, in his youth, chased after Wienermobiles on his bike.
The drivers of the Wienermobile only had a few more weeks before their one-year only job ended. "After a one-year term, you become expired meat," Van Caeseele quipped. "Then, the fresh meat comes in June. We're excited to meet Class 37." The hotdogger program began in 1988.
Oscar Mayer hotdoggers: Columnist interviews co-pilots on the road
What does Kammer like about being a hotdogger?
"There's so many great things about being a hotdogger. You get to make people smile every day, and when you're on the road, you get to just drive down the block and make about 15 people smile. I think it's the way you make people feel when they come up to the Wienermobile and hear the stories that they've had forever. To hear all those 'remember when' stories. Or, maybe it's their first time, and you get to see and feel all that joy when they see the Wienermobile."
What has Van Caeseele gained from her experience as a hotdogger?
"It's like... how much time do you have? Oh my gosh. I really just have gained a new outlook on life and how much impact you can make no matter what you're doing. Whether you are at work or going to the grocery store, getting your hair cut or going to the movies. You really do have so much power to make somebody's day whether you're with a Wienermobile or not. I think that is the thing that I will take with me forever. Just how great this world is, how kind people are, and the importance of adventure... getting out there, meeting people and traveling. It really has changed my life and outlook on everything."
In her youth, Van Caeseele wanted to be a dancer or an artist, but in her college years, it was her dream to be a hotdogger.
"I’m hoping for a career in hospitality, tourism, travel, experiential marketing or event coordination but keeping my options open. Our last day is always the first Sunday of every June. If you know anyone that’s hiring, send them my way," Van Caeseele said.
Visit oscarmayer.com to learn the history behind the unique vehicle and to learn more about becoming a hotdogger. A Wienermobile tracker is also available on the website. Six different hot dogs on wheels drive around the country at all times. Vanity plates which have graced the vehicles made with fiber glass include the following: "WEENR," "WNRMBLE," "BIG BUN," "OHIWISH," "IWSHIWR," "OSCRMYR," "YUMMY," "OUR DOG" and "LTL LINK."
The marketing pair love hot dogs and being hotdoggers. They feel very lucky and honored to have their positions. Read this story at progress-index.com to view a gallery and watch Chlo-wienie, Chili-Cheese MC and Cheesy-Wienie-Kristi's Facebook Live.
It was a "bunderful" adventure! If you pilot the Planters Nutmobile or L.L. Bean Bootmobile, it will bring me great pleasure to ride along to witness miles of smiles.
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Kristi K. Higgins aka The Social Butterfly, an award-winning columnist, is the trending topics and food Q&A reporter at The Progress-Index voted the 2022 Tri-Cities Best of the Best Social Media Personality. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses? Contact Kristi (she, her) at [email protected], follow @KHiggins_PI on X and @socialbutterflykristi on Instagram.
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This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Wienermobile: Columnist rides in 27-foot hot dog, shares story, video
