The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has hosted its share of improbable entrants over the past century, but few have been quite as frank about their intentions as the six vehicles that will circle the famous brickyard on Friday.
Oscar Mayer, the Kraft Heinz brand that has been dispatching promotional frankfurters on wheels across America since 1936, is staging the second running of what it calls the Wienie 500 — a race among its fleet of Wienermobiles that the company says generated half a million additional wiener sales after last year's inaugural event drew 85,000 spectators and eight million viewers across Fox and social media.
This year's race will be broadcast live nationwide on Fox for the first time, a distribution upgrade that suggests someone at Kraft Heinz was pleased with the returns. The agency Johannes Leonardo created the campaign, with The Kitchen handling social media duties.
The field has expanded to include a corn dog, which won a fan vote to join regional entries representing Chicago, New York, the South, Seattle, and the reigning champion from the Southeast, a vehicle known as Slaw Dog. (One assumes the coleslaw lobby is delighted.) Each Wienermobile will feature new livery for the occasion, and the drivers — known in Oscar Mayer parlance as "hotdoggers" — have received coaching from current IndyCar professionals including Nolan Siegel and Scott McLaughlin.
Fox will deploy its full IndyCar broadcast team, with Will Buxton calling the action and analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe providing commentary of the sort usually reserved for vehicles capable of exceeding 230 miles per hour.
"Last year's inaugural race proved the Wienie 500 is more than just a one-time spectacle — it's a real race cemented in culture," said Kelsey Rice, brand communications director at Oscar Mayer, in a statement that also included the phrase "turbo-charging all race elements."
Fans at the track will receive limited-edition Wiener Whistles, a promotional item that has been delighting children and irritating parents for decades. Those watching from home may purchase merchandise and vote for their preferred Wienermobile.
The Speedway has seen stranger things, though perhaps none quite so deliberately strange.
Original story published in adweek.com: "Oscar Mayer's Wienie 500 Goes Bigger After 500K Sales Bump"