1. Recent
grads
relishing
Wienermobile
gig
Quad
Cities
Online
Originally
Posted
Online:
June
27,
2012,
8:19
pm
By
Jack
Cullen,
jscullen@qconline.com
For
12
recent
college
graduates,
their
wish
of
becoming
an
Oscar
Mayer
wiener
came
true
this
summer
after
getting
chosen
to
drive
the
Wienermobile
around
the
country
promoting
the
Madison,
Wis.-­‐based
company.
At
a
time
when
college
grads
are
struggling
to
find
any
jobs
at
all,
becoming
a
"hotdogger"
is
statistically
more
competitive
than
getting
into
grad
school.
About
1,200
graduates
apply
for
this
dream
job
every
year
and
only
1
percent
are
chosen.
Jackie
Calder,
who
recently
graduated
from
Penn
State
University
with
a
degree
in
advertising,
and
Emma
Cuellar,
who
studied
public
relations
at
the
University
of
Texas,
are
two
of
the
lucky
grads
who
get
to
cruise
across
the
country
in
the
27-­‐foot
(60
hot-­‐dogs-­‐long)
Wienermobile.
The
two
brought
the
famous
vehicle
to
the
Walmart
on
Kimberly
Road
in
Davenport
on
Wednesday
afternoon.
Before
starting
their
tour
around
the
Midwest,
the
pair
and
the
10
other
"hotdoggers"
attended
Hot
Dog
High,
a
three-­‐week
boot
camp
where
they
learned
how
to
drive
the
converted
Chevrolet,
promote
Oscar
Mayer
foods,
and
practice
their
enthusiastic
pun-­‐filled
lingo.
The
hot
dog
and
bun
that
give
the
six
Wienermobiles
their
trademark
appearance
are
made
completely
of
fiberglass.
Each
Wienermobile
weighs
more
than
seven
tons,
the
equivalent
of
140,500
hot
dogs.
As
for
mileage,
Ms.
Calder
said
they
don't
keep
track
of
how
many
miles
to
the
gallon
the
Wienermobile
gets
but
instead
how
many
"smiles
to
the
gallon."

2.
"It
runs
on
high
octane
mustard,"
added
Ms.
Cuellar
as
she
opened
what
they
call
the
"lambor-­‐weenie"
door
on
the
right
side
of
the
Wienermobile.
Ketchup-­‐and-­‐mustard-­‐colored
carpeting,
leather
seats
and
a
flat-­‐screen
TV
make
up
the
interior
of
the
Wienermobile,
and
the
one
in
Davenport
on
Wednesday
has
the
license
plate
"OUR
DOG."
(Two
of
the
other
Wienermobile
license
plates
are
"BIG
BUN"
and
"YUMMY.")
Spending
most
of
their
day
handing
out
miniature
Wienermobile
whistles
and
snapping
photos
of
children
standing
by
their
Chevrolet,
both
Ms.
Calder
and
Ms.
Cuellar
said
they
enjoy
meeting
people
in
different
states
and
hearing
their
stories.
"I
just
really
enjoy
traveling
around
the
Midwest,"
said
Ms.
Calder,
who
grew
up
in
Connecticut
and
first
heard
about
the
job
when
a
recruiter
came
to
Penn
State.
"Hearing
all
of
the
'when
I
was
young'
stories
and
meeting
a
variety
of
people
is
really
fun."
Jerry
and
Cricket
Anderson,
of
Galesburg,
exited
Walmart
with
their
two
grandchildren
and
some
cold
Kool-­‐Aid
when
they
saw
the
Wienermobile
on
Wednesday.
"It's
changed
over
the
years,"
said
Ms.
Anderson,
who
had
a
relative
that
used
to
drive
a
Wienermobile
in
the
Chicago
area
years
ago.
"It's
quite
the
sight."
The
Andersons'
grandchildren
took
pictures
standing
next
to
the
Wienermobile
and
received
Wienermobile
whistles
from
the
two
hotdoggers.
Ms.
Calder
and
Ms.
Cuellar
are
members
of
the
25th
class
of
hotdoggers
since
the
program
started
in
1980.
The
pair
will
split
up
after
six
months
and
tour
around
another
region
in
the
U.S.
with
different
partners.