Petition hopes to close the longstanding bun-and-hot-dog gap
America put a man on the moon. We should be capable of selling equal quantities of wieners and hot dog buns in the grocery store.
For more than a century, Americans have been downing dogs. Yet to the bemusement of barbecuers, the buns come in eight packs, and the sausages never match up.
Heinz has had enough.
On Monday, the Pittsburgh-based condiment maker challenged “Big Bun and Big Wiener companies to find the answer ... once and for all.”
“We’ve seen our fans through social media express their outrage about the bun-to-hot-dog ratio issue for years, and we know there must be a better way,” says Daniel Gotlib, Heinz’s associate director of brand building and innovation. “As the iconic condiment that has been making hot dogs complete for over 150 years, we saw an opportunity to champion this issue on behalf of hot dog lovers across North America.”
As of Friday, more than 16,000 users had signed a Change.org petition “10 Wieners. 10 Buns. It’s time.”
The petition reads: “We’re calling on Big Bun and Big Wiener companies to find the answer to this hot dog packaging mismatch, once and for all. We need your signatures more than ever. Let’s change hot dog history together.” Some relish the appetite for change. At Cheese Dawgs in Lower Southampton, Pennsylvania, owner Rick Pyrell serves Dietz & Watson hot dogs on New England-style rolls. The rolls come in bags of eight, and that rarely matches the number of customers or wieners on the griddle.
National Hot Dog Day
Heinz’s Change.org campaign is timed for the heyday of hot dogs.
National Hot Dog Day is July 21, according to the Washington, D.C.-based
National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.
Since 1991, a National Hot Dog Day luncheon has been served on Capitol Hill by lobbyists for the meat industry.
According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, July is also “National Hot Dog Month.” On its website (hot-dog.org), you’ll find a list of activities for Hot Dog Month, including how to secure a proclamation from your local mayor in support of hot dogs.
When grilled about the hot dog-tobun ratio, the president of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council said he was open to negotiations with Heinz ketchup and America’s bun makers.
“We relish any partnerships to ketchup on hot dog and bun offerings so they cut the mustard for hot dog lovers everywhere,” said Eric Mittenthal, National Hot Dog and Sausage Council president.
The American Bakers Association did not respond to requests for comment.
Why don’t numbers match up?
The hot dog-to-bun ratio in America is the result of manufacturing, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. Wieners are sold in 10 packs because of the weight of the meat.
Sandwich rolls often come in packs of eight because the buns are baked in clusters of four pans designed to hold eight rolls.