Oscar Mayer Debuts ‘Cold Dog’ Frozen Pop
Oscar Mayer has debuted the first “Cold Dog,” a bun-derfully odd and surprisingly delicious frozen pop flavored like the beloved Oscar Mayer wiener.
Stemming from Oscar Mayer’s “Stupid or Genius” campaign – focused on all the wonderfully odd ways to enjoy the iconic wiener beyond grilling – the Cold Dog sparked a sizzling social media debate. While a cold hot dog may be polarizing, tens of thousands of fans relished the idea of a hot dog-flavored frozen pop and crowned the Cold Dog “genius,” so the brand made it a reality.
Oscar Mayer, a Kraft Heinz Company brand, is teaming up with Popbar, a premium frozen desserts company known for handcrafted gelato on-a-stick to create the Cold Dog, boasting both refreshing and smokey, umami notes of Oscar Mayer’s iconic wiener – all topped with a signature swirl of “mustard.”
Now available for just $2 at select Popbar locations, hot dog lovers can taste the frank-tastic new invention in Long Beach, New York City, Alpharetta-Atlanta and New Orleans while supplies last.
“After the overwhelming fan excitement for our beloved Cold Dog, it was a no-brainer to make this hot dog-inspired frozen pop a reality,” said Anne Field, Head of North American Brand Communications, Oscar Mayer. “For more than 130 years, Oscar Mayer has been sparking smiles and bringing levity into everyday moments, and we are thrilled to bring fans another wonderfully odd way to enjoy our iconic wiener while beating the summer heat.”
Oscar Mayer’s iconic 27-foot hot dog on wheels dons an icy makeover to sample Cold Dogs. Fittingly outfitted as a frozen pop truck, the Wienermobile features frosted windows, icicle-inspired decorations and more as it travels the hot dog highways to popular summertime destinations in NYC and the Jersey Shore now through August 27.
For more information and where to meat-up with the Wienermobile this week, visit OscarMayer.com and Oscar Mayer on Instagram.
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Johnsonville Pitches Sausage-Packed Fun for SuperHole III
It’s SuperHole time – when untold numbers of cornhole fans schedule their lives around televised pro-am competitions. For the uninitiated, it’s up to SuperHole III now.
Johnsonville, the official sponsor of the American Cornhole League, has created a collection of limited-edition advertisement spots that will run in broadcast and digital, an impressive roster of air- mailing sausage ambassadors like Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and Jennie Finch, a cornhole watch-party Pinterest board and hilarious sausage-centric swag.
“There is no doubt that this year’s SuperHole event will be the must-see event of year,” said Jamie Schmelzer, senior director of strategic growth at Johnsonville. “Being a CPG brand, we’re fully aware that American consumers inescapably link the Big Game with great advertising, creative recipes, top entertainment, media moments and watch parties.”
Schmelzer said Johnsonville has a terrific partnership with the ACL and the first two years of its pro-am versions of cornhole competitions (SuperHole) have become so popular with more celebrities and athletes playing and fans engaging.
“So, while the ACL produces their own version of the Big Game, we thought there should be some fun, sausage-y elements to enhance SuperHole weekend. The ACL team agreed, and we’ve had a blast putting this together. The fans should get a kick out of how we’ve spiced up the line-up to make it bigger and better than ever – from parodying some nostalgic ad spots to this crazy sausage-tunnel for all the players to run through – it’s going to be a lot of fun!”
With a laundry list of sizzling entertainment planned for the two live SuperHole broadcasts on ESPN2, Johnsonville and the ACL will leave viewers with just one question on the big day – “Why isn’t this a primetime broadcast all year!?”. Sausage fans will rejoice as “John. Son. Ville” makes its debut, the ACL creates their first-ever SuperHole ad and cornhole legends are born as athletes look to serve up and cement their sausage-tunnel runs in history and claim the first-ever WS Moore SuperHole Trophy, presented by Johnsonville.
The ACL SuperHole III will be broadcast live on ESPN2: The Ocho this Friday, August 5, with the quarterfinals airing from 4-5 p.m. ET and finals from 8-9 p.m. ET. First-time viewers and cornhole enthusiasts are encouraged to tune-in and serve up Johnsonville sausage in their watch- party spreads to celebrate what will be the biggest SuperHole event to date.
The complete line-up of Johnsonville experiences for SuperHole III includes:
• Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson will host his watch party live from his Instagram account, during ESPN’s “Ocho Day” on Aug. 5
• Johnsonville parody spots:
• ACL’s first SuperHole ad
• Sausage tunnel runs: Watch the 16 SuperHole and ACL players take the court in style
• Rapper and entertainer Flavor Flav will emcee both SuperHole III broadcasts
• The Johnsonville SuperHole Halftime Show will feature a live performance from singer-writer Ben Rector
• Cornhole audience members will don one-of-a-kind HoleHead hats and Johnsonville grill hats
• Presentation of the first-ever WS Moore SuperHole trophy to the SuperHole champions
The SuperHole Championship lineup includes:
• Retired NFL quarterback Doug Flutie and Matt Guy
• Retired NFL quarterback Jay Cutler and Jay Rubin
• Actor Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and Jacob Trzcienski
• UFC competitor Chris Weidman and Jimmy McGuffin
• University of S Carolina women’s head coach Dawn Staley and Mark Richards
• Singer/Songwriter Ben Rector and Jimmy Youmans
• Retired NFL running back Terry Kirby and Rosie Streker
• ESPN Broadcaster Marty Smith and Ryan Smith
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General Mills Completes $610M Sale of Helper, Suddenly Salad Businesses
General Mills has completed the sale of its Helper main meals and Suddenly Salad side dishes businesses to Eagle Family Foods Group in a cash transaction valued at approximately $610 million.
Eagle Foods, a portfolio company of Kelso & Company, is a leading producer and marketer of canned sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk products and retail snack foods, distributed through U.S. retail channels, foodservice and export, U.S. military and private label channels.
Net sales for the Helper and Suddenly Salad businesses totaled approximately $235 million in fiscal 2021. General Mills included the impact of this transaction in its Fiscal 2023 guidance issued in its fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2022 earnings press release on June 29, 2022.
“We are builders of brands, categories, and people,” said Bernard Kreilmann, Eagle Foods CEO. “The Helper and Suddenly Salad brands, with strong heritage and high consumer awareness, are a perfect fit for what Eagle does best – investing in, innovating, and revitalizing brands to drive growth and nurture them to reach their full potential.”
The acquisition creates three diversified platforms within Eagle Foods focused on growing center store categories for retailers – snacks, baking, and meals and sides. Eagle will continue investing in its growing snacks and milk business in parallel with this new investment.
Eagle Foods has been successful in driving brand and category growth by investing in R&D, innovations, marketing and strong supply chain efficiencies. As the leader in the sweetened condensed milk category, Eagle Foods has consistently driven sales and share growth by bringing new households into the category. Eagle Foods also reversed negative share and distribution trends of two struggling popcorn brands it acquired, Cretors and Popcorn Indiana, turning them into two of the fastest growing brands in their category.
“We will leverage our core values of entrepreneurship, collaboration, and quality to grow all of our brands and further expand into the center of the store,” Kreilmann said. “We will immediately start expanding the positioning of these two iconic brands and bring consumers tasty, convenient, and affordable meal solutions.”
Headquartered in Minneapolis, General Mills generated fiscal 2022 net sales of U.S. $19.0 billion. In addition, the company’s share of non-consolidated joint venture net sales totaled U.S. $1.1 billion.
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