The Iconic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile Was Just Spotted in St. Joe

I will preface this by saying I have an obsession with the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Whether that obsession is healthy or not is another story. I'm not entirely sure what sparked this fascination with a giant hot dog on wheels, but I think it had something to do with Pure Michigan spokesman Tim Allen's classic movie The Santa Clause. 

In the classic Christmas movie there's a scene where the adults talk about the toys they always wanted as a child, but never received. One of the main characters, played by Judge Reinhold, never received the Oscar Mayer wiener whistle that he'd always wanted thus he stopped believing in Santa Claus. I haven't been able to stop thinking about that scene ever since!

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Anytime the iconic Wienermobile is nearby I make it my own personal mission to see it. I've even amassed quite a collection of wiener whistles of my own! If you've never seen the Wienermobile yourself, all visitors are given a little wiener whistle to commemorate the occasion. It's a fun little souvenir!

Though I've seen the giant hot dog a handful of times, I've never seen it "in the wild" and I've always sought after it myself thanks to the handy-dandy Wienermobile app. Yes, there's an app.

In fact, last week the app told me the Wienermobile was expected in the Grand Rapids area so naturally I drove up to see it-- only to be severely disappointed when it wasn't there! I guess the giant hot dog had more pressing obligations.

However, my social media feed was flooded with pictures from west Michigan locals sharing their Wienermobile sightings throughout our area. How did I miss this?!

The mobile hot dog was spotted everywhere from Holland down to St. Joseph, which is where Wally & Gertz's snack shack shared a photo of it saying,

the male driver was just stopping by quickly to walk on the pier as he grew up here as a kid!!!!

The Wienermobile drivers, officially known as "Hotdoggers", are typically young college graduates or soon-to-be graduates who are majoring in subjects like Communications or Advertising and Public Relations. These students then spend a year on the road as brand ambassadors for the iconic bologna brand. Living the dream, if you ask me!

There are six different Wienermobile vehicles that cover different regions of the U.S. Each is identifiable by unique vanity plates which include BIGBUN and YUMMY. The plate on the vehicle that parked in St. Joe read RELSHME.

The last time I saw the Wienermobile in west Michigan was when it was in the Tulip Time parade in Holland earlier this year. According to the official Wienermobile app RELSHME is headed to the Chicago area for the Bud Billiken Parade on August 13.