Sept. 25:

Wienermobile: Or... You Are What You Drive?

A few weeks ago, I spotted the actual rolling advertising icon, The "Oscar Mayer Weinermobile". For those of you born in the 21st century, the Weinermobile is a custom car shaped like a hot dog sitting atop a yellow mustard colored 'bun'. It's one of six (6!) V8 powered frankfurters that drive around the United States and Canada promoting an American icon right up there with baseball, apple pie, and the bankrupt Chevrolet. There are not that many truly iconic vehicles that make me want to have a picture taken in the drivers seat: The 1966 Batmobile, The Monkeemobile, The Movie Batmobile(s), and the 1979 DeLorean/Time-Machine from Back To The Future.

But the 'Weinermobile' is unique among these in that it was designed primarily, and strictly as an advertising 'vehicle'. And in keeping with the 'verbalizing' of America - just as 'Google' is not only a noun, but also a Verb... "I googled weinermobile today"... so too is the word 'weinermobile' in my mind a word symbolizing all 'rolling-ad-vehicles'. You've seen them: Red Bull, graphic-wrapped busses. Weinermobiles.

Recently, the bank started a program where employees can volunteer to promote the bank by getting their car wrapped in bank colors, and logos. You may have seen them already outside Sounders games, in the parking lot at the local dog-park... wherever. I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to turn the silver TDI Jetta 'biodiesel' (with the chrome logo lettering 'BIODIESEL', and the chrome chachki 'trek-fish' - as in... "It's not about creationism OR evolution [or Noodly Appendages for that matter]... it's about THE FUTURE - somewhere we're ALL hoping to live... together") into a 'weinermobile' for my company. Oh, the ~$300 cash/month would be nice. And I don't have a problem with following the rules of the road - within speed limits, etc. It's the removal of the 'biodiesel' logo, and the 'Trek-fish' that kept my vehicle in it's factory colors. I have a window sticker or two (SeaHawks, Crimson Tide, Episcopal Church) in addition to the extra chrome paraphernalia. Oh, if there were only a chrome & black bumper icon of Terry Pratchetts' "anthropomorphic personification"...

Besides... The Batmobile=Batman. The Monkeemobile=The Monkees. The Weinermobile=A weiner? None for me, thanks... I'm driving!