What’s In A Name
I went to the grocery store over the weekend, and on the list was a food item most of us call “hot dogs”.
I reached for the Oscar Meyer version of the product, and put a package marked “bun-length wieners” into the cart.
So I can confirm, first-hand, that they are still selling wieners. Which makes this story even odder.
The legendary Oscar Meyer wienermobile is no more. Well, the vehicle is there, but for the first time since 1936, it has a new name.
Introducing the Frankmobile. There are actually six of them rolling around the country at various times. Kraft Heinz, which owns Oscar Meyer, said they made the change to introduce their new all-beef franks…which I’m guessing still look like wieners.
The lucky folks who drive the vehicle are no longer known as “hotdoggers” either…they are “frankfurters”–which makes no sense, since it does not parallel “hotdoggers”. And those “wiener whistles” they would hand out that looked like the wienermobile? Naturally, they’re now “frank whistles”.
The geniuses at Kraft Heinz already ruined blue box macaroni and cheese by changing the formula for the sauce mix—shades of New Coke, anyone?–and by literally changing the name to “Kraft Mac and Cheese” because the full name “macaroni” was apparently too formal.
They can call it what they will, but it’s always going to be the wienermobile…regardless if it makes 12-year-old boys snicker when they say it–which may be the real reason they changed the name, but either way, it’s still a dumb idea.
