Hot Dog!
The next time you see the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile on the road or on TV, chances are it's a fellow Penn Stater doing the driving! We recently talked with Emily Volpini, a 2007 graduate of Penn State's College of Communications and one of twelve Oscar Mayer "Hotdoggers" spending the year driving one of six Wienermobiles across a hungry nation.
The History
The first Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was created in 1936 by Carl G. Mayer to transport the Oscar Mayer spokes-person from store to store to promote the company's products. The original, thirteen-foot-long metal hot dog on wheels featured open cockpits in the center and rear of the vehicle.
Today's Wienermobiles are modern-technology marvels! Measuring twenty-seven feet long and eleven feet high, and weighing approximately 14,000 pounds, the vehicles are equipped with GPS navigation systems, state-of-the-art audio centers with wireless microphones, and exterior rearview cameras; they boast mustard- and catsup-colored seats, blue-sky ceiling art, mustard-splattered walkways, and carpet designed to look as if it had been ordered with "everything on it."
A Typical Day
As you can imagine, no day is "typical" when you're driving a twenty-seven-foot hot dog cross-country. Explains Volpini, "After we wake up and get ready for that day's event, we walk out [of our hotel] to the Wienermobile, where most likely there are people admiring it and taking pictures. If the Wienermobile needs to be cleaned before the event, we clean it ourselves, either at a truck wash or at a fire department that lets us use their hose. "An event can be a visit to a retail store, festival, fair, or parade. Our primary event for summer 2007 was Oscar Mayer's 'Sing the Jingle, Be a Star' contest (a partnership with American Idol), in which people auditioned by singing one of the Oscar Mayer jingles on camera. We then uploaded their videos online for them to watch and send to friends and family. Twelve finalists will be selected, and then America will pick the winners, as on American Idol. The winners will get a spot in an Oscar Mayer commercial, $5,000, and tickets to the 2008 American Idol finale."
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President Graham Spanier toots his Oscar Mayer Wienerwhistle,
a gift from Penn State alum Brea Hall (’05), just one in a long line of Penn State Wienermobile Hotdoggers. (Photo by Greg Grieco) |
Mad about the Mobile!
"People go crazy over the Wienermobile," says Volpini. "Sometimes we stop at our hotel or a gas station, and people run up and tell us they have been following us just to get a picture or a Wienerwhistle. We get a lot of honks, yells, smiles, and pictures taken. We probably have at least thirty pictures taken of us a day! A guy once took a picture with his camera phone through the sunroof while driving past us on the highway. Watching people’s reactions is probably the best thing about our job."
Why the Wienermobile?
Like many college graduates, Volpini wasn't sure what she wanted to do after graduation. "What appealed to me about this job was the opportunity to travel the country and meet people," she explains. "And I wanted to work for a fun company with a sense of humor."
If you think you have what it takes to be a Penn State Hotdogger, check out http://www.kraftfoods.com/oscarmayer/omm_doggermaterial.htm.
Did You Know?At least one Hotdogger is chosen from Penn State every year! |
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Why?April Lopez, mobile marketing coordinator for the Wienermobile, says, "Personality is huge for us. A Hotdogger has to be outgoing and have energy. Penn State [applicants] have always been very strong. We've had a lot of success with the school." |
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2007–08 Penn State Hotdoggers Emily Volpini (left) and Whitney Stringer (Photo courtesy of Emily Volpini)
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