Every summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day Americans consume 7 billion hot dogs. So we set out to get Americans talking on Labor Day, the last moment to win in hot dogs. Our primary KPI was earned attention, so we had to cut through the end of summer clutter and become part of our consumer's world. We found an authentic cultural moment to amplify, and ultimately explode conversation on social media. The intended effect of this attention was to drive increased sales during the campaign period.

For centuries, we’ve all agreed that hot dogs should be served and eaten on a bun. But rules are made to be broken… introducing the Oscar Mayer Hot Dog Straw.

Oscar Mayer is a culturally iconic, wonderfully odd brand that has permission to do things other brands can’t… or won’t. From the original Wienermobile to famous jingles to even wiener whistles,

Oscar is known for creating entertaining cultural artifacts that move people toward the brand rather than just making advertising that sells to them. Embracing the most viral hot dog video of all time, Oscar Mayer recognized its genius and brought it to life - for real: creating the first hot dog straw* designed strictly for sipping.

Our audience is broad – everyone who enjoys hotdogs during summer. But they can go on autopilot. And there are plenty of “rules”. How to top them, how to cook them.

As the originators of the WienerMobile and even the recent Cold Dog - a hot dog popsicle; it was only natural that Oscar Mayer could have a hot take on hot dogs that would be as wonderfully odd as our brand.

Our inspiration surprised us. Using social listening, we found a viral summer hot dog video from 1 year earlier, that came directly from summer hot dog culture. It pushed up against the most basic assumption about them: that they are meant to be eaten. It showed the unthinkable – a guy at a ball game using a hot dog as a straw to drink beer. You either loved or hated it. Either way, it couldn’t be ignored.

We saw the genius in the original idea and wanted to bring it to people, for real.

Ahead of the 1 year anniversary of his viral video, Oscar Mayer partnered with New York Nico to create the viral hot dog straw, for real, creating synthetic hot dog straws inspired by Oscar Mayer’s glizzies as a social stunt and giveaway.

We matched the look & feel down to the talent’s wardrobe. We created 1,000 straws, and gave them away for free over a five day period. On Social, New York Nico and Oscar Mayer promoted this wonderfully odd collaboration. We also drove people to a microsite where they could pre-order the straw and from 8/22 - 8/26, we released a limited quantity of 200 straws (the straw was free, and first come first serve). We got publications involved, top media outlets and sports press - a first for Oscar Mayer.

Sold out Initial release of straws in 9 minutes.

NY Nico’s TikTok post: 7.4M views with 36,400 likes and 4581 shares

NY Nico’s IG post: 855,667 impressions with 17,423 and 10,401 shares

Initial Oscar Mayer announcement in-feed posts: 47635 impressions with 1435 likes and 1324 shares.

Goal: 150 Million Impressions, Earned: 850 Million earned impressions

Goal: 50-75 earned media placements, Earned 1100+ earned media placements

Media coverage included: USA Today, TODAY, CNBC, Food & Wine, People, Complex, HYPEBEAST, Ad Age, MLB TV and more.

Drew Barrymore & Steven Colbert showcased the straw on their shows

Labor Day $ share grew +0.2pts versus year ago (16.4% versus 16.26%)...Our $ share was largest of any key summer holiday shopping window.

+24% in volume sales versus the week prior

+26% velocity sales growth versus the week prior

Increased repeat usage for the 2-weeks following: (+3.6pts) and (+5.6pt) the week compared to the following.