Oscar Mayer

History

Early years

German immigrant Oscar F. Mayer (1859–1955), born in Kösingen, Germany, began working at a meat market in Detroit, Michigan, and later in Chicago, Illinois. In 1883, Mayer and his brother Gottfried leased the Kolling Meat Market on the near-northside of Chicago. The Mayer brothers sold bratwurst, liverwurst, and weißwurst, which were popular in the predominantly German neighborhoods around their Chicago meat market.

As the meat market's popularity grew, it expanded its storefront and participated in sponsoring local events including the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. By 1900, the company had 43 employees and Chicago-wide delivery service. In 1904, Oscar Mayer began branding its meats to capitalize on their popularity, beginning an industry-wide trend. Early company specialties were "Old World" sausages and Westphalian hams, soon followed by bacon and wieners. In 1906, Oscar Mayer & Co. volunteered to join the newly created federal meat inspection program. In 1919, the company made its first major expansion, with the purchase of a processing plant in Madison, Wisconsin. The plant was a profitable, efficient operation, and in 1957 Madison became the corporate headquarters.

Kraft ownership

For nearly a century, Oscar Mayer remained an independent company owned primarily by descendants of the Mayer brothers who started it. In 1981, Oscar Mayer stockholders elected to sell the company to General Foods. Four years later, Philip Morris acquired General Foods, and in 1989 merged General Foods with the newly acquired Kraft Foods transforming it into Kraft General foods. Shares of Kraft Foods were first offered to the public via an initial public offering in 2001. Altria Group (formerly Philip Morris) spun-off remaining shares of Kraft Foods to Altria shareholders in 2007.

On November 4, 2015, owner Kraft Heinz announced it would move the Oscar Mayer headquarters and the company's U.S. meats business from Madison back to Chicago. The company also announced plans to consolidate its production facilities during the two following years, resulting in the shutdown of seven North American manufacturing facilities: Fullerton, California, San Leandro, California, Federalsburg, Maryland, St. Marys, Ontario, Campbell, New York, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, and Madison.

In August 2017,* Bloomberg Businessweek* reported that the company planned to spend $10 million to reinvent the hot dog for a more health-conscious consumer.

Advertisements

Oscar Mayer had several advertisements on TV involving young children, including the Oscar Mayer Wiener ad in 1963. The commercial shows a young girl leading a group of children, singing that they'd "love to be an Oscar Mayer wiener". It was written by Richard D. Trentlage.

A 1973 TV commercial featured four-year-old Andy Lambros holding a fishing rod and sandwich while singing, "My bologna has a first name, it's 'O-S-C-A-R'...". It became one of the longest-running TV commercials in the country.

Oscar Mayer is known for its Wienermobile, which has toured the United States for over 80 years. The first Wienermobile was created in 1936. On May 14, 2023, it was announced that the Wienermobile would be renamed the Frankmobile; four months later, this unpopular name change was reversed.

In 2019, Oscar Mayer started sponsoring Ryan Newman in the NASCAR cup series in the number 6 Roush Fenway Racing car. It later announced a two-year extension to the agreement.

On May 23, 2025, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Oscar Mayer hosted the Wienie 500, a race between six Wienermobiles.

References

References

1. "Oscar Mayer Company History".
2. "The 124 YEAR History of "Oscar Mayer" Foods".
3. (1998). "Cutting Into the Meatpacking Line". Univ of North Carolina Press.
4. Lukas, Paul. (2003-05-01). "Bringing Home the Bacon A German made America's first national meat. And that's no baloney.".
5. (5 February 1981). "General Foods Plans To Buy Oscar Mayer". [[The New York Times]].
6. (2017-08-02). "Why the Hatchet Men of 3G Spent $10 Million on a Better Oscar Mayer Wiener".
7. [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/us/richard-d-trentlage-oscar-mayer-wiener-song-author-dies.html Richard D. Trentlage, 87, Who Wrote 'The Oscar Mayer Wiener Song,' Dies]. ''The New York Times''. September 29, 2016.
8. (20 January 2007). "Oscar Mayer Commercial – 1973".
9. "Oscar Mayer Bologny Kid".
10. (3 August 2012). "Oscar Mayer Wiener Song".
11. Koran, Mario. (January 29, 2020). "World's wurst driver: Oscar Mayer Wienermobile gets frank warning from officer". [[The Guardian]].
12. (May 17, 2023). "The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile Gets a Beefy New Name for the First Time in Nearly 100 Years". KraftHeinz.
13. (September 22, 2023). "Oscar Mayer's Wienermobile is back after a 4-month flirtation with a name change to Frankmobile".
14. Bonkowski, Jerry. (October 30, 2019). "Oscar Mayer extends sponsorship of Ryan Newman's No. 6 Mustang through 2021". [[NBC Sports]].
15. "Oscar Mayer’s Fleet of Wienermobiles Go Head-to-Head in Inaugural “Wienie 500” – First Ever, High-Stakes Race on the Iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway".