The famed Oscar Mayer Wienermobile — the 27-foot-long hot dog on wheels that traverses the country’s highways and byways, rallying people around the glory of encased meat — crashed Friday into a home in Mt. Pleasant, Wis. The 22-year-old driver apparently thought she was moving in reverse but instead smashed forward into the home’s garage and deck. All of which made us feel a bit embarrassed for the storied Wienermobile, which has been dogged by controversy. Here’s a roundup of recent Wienermobile wackiness:
JULY 2009: Media reports this month said Oscar G. Mayer — grandson of the company founder — requested that the huge hot dog not appear at his funeral for fear that it could cause a spectacle. A company spokeswoman later denied those reports but confirmed that the funeral did not feature the Wienermobile.
FEBRUARY 2008: A Wienermobile became stranded on a median of a New York highway after spinning out in a snowstorm.
APRIL 2008: An Oscar Mayer employee reported $1,000 graffiti damage to the Wienermobile parked outside a hotel in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
AUGUST 2007: Chicago police ticketed a Wienermobile for illegal parking on the Magnificent Mile.
JUNE 2007: An Arizona police officer pulled over a Wienermobile after a check of the license plate — “Yummy” — erroneously showed that the plates were stolen.
JUNE 2002: Virginia State Police stopped a Wienermobile on a restricted road near the Pentagon. They had apparently feared the rolling hot dog could be a disguised terrorist weapon.
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