At the heel-end of summer in 2022, food producer Oscar Mayer debuted a “Cold Dog,” a frozen popsicle flavored like, well, a hot dog.
The company teamed up with frozen dessert company Popbar to create the $2 dog, which is available in select locations in Long Beach, New York, Atlanta and New Orleans. The concoction stemmed from a marketing campaign by Oscar Mayer, titled “Stupid or Genius”, and the company described the product as “both refreshing and smokey” with “umami notes of Oscar Mayer’s iconic wiener — all topped with a signature swirl of ‘mustard.’”
While Snopes was combing Oscar Mayer's marketing materials to determine whether the “Cold Dog” was an authentic food item (it is), our fact-checkers came across an even more bizarre product: the "bologna-inspired face mask." That’s right; in January, Oscar Mayer launched what it described as a first-of-its-kind product that “rejuvenates your skin while recapturing that childhood joy.” To be fair, the face masks were inspired by bologna, not actually made of it.
“Oscar Mayer has a legacy bringing levity to things that have gotten too serious, and beauty is a ripe territory to playfully subvert,” said Lindsey Ressler, senior marketing analyst at Oscar Mayer, in a news release at the time. “Inspired by those who used to playfully make masks out of their bologna as kids, this product was born as a modern-day way to spark smiles for fans of Oscar Mayer and beauty enthusiasts alike. This is the latest in our brand movement to create work that feels more like pop-art and less like traditional commercial advertising — inspired by the old, modernized for today.”
The masks were a collaboration between the hot dog company and Seoul Mamas, a Korean beauty company, and available for $5 on Amazon while supplies lasted (as of this writing, the product was "unavailable" on the retailer's website).
Genius or stupid? We’ll let you decide.
Sources
The Oscar Mayer® Brand Launches First-Ever Bologna-Inspired Face Mask; Pays Homage to Childhood Traditions. https://news.kraftheinzcompany.com/press-releases-details/2022/The-Oscar-Mayer-Brand-Launches-First-Ever-Bologna-Inspired-Face-Mask-Pays-Homage-to-Childhood-Traditions/default.aspx. Accessed 26 Aug. 2022.
The Oscar Mayer® Brand Unveils the Cold Dog, A First-of-Its-Kind Hot Dog-Flavored Frozen Pop. https://news.kraftheinzcompany.com/press-releases-details/2022/The-Oscar-Mayer-Brand-Unveils-the-Cold-Dog-A-First-of-Its-Kind-Hot-Dog-Flavored-Frozen-Pop/default.aspx. Accessed 26 Aug. 2022.