UW-Madison graduate Lindsay Barone gets a lot of laughs when she drives through campus. But Barone usually laughs right along. After all, she usually drives a 27-foot-long hot dog.
'It's hard not to laugh when you see it driving down the street,' Barone said. 'There's really nothing else like it.'
Barone is one of three UW-Madison graduates who, for the last year, have driven Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles across the country. Now these self-titled 'Hotdoggers' are stopping in Madison to find their successors.
From 6 to 7:00 p.m. Monday in the Red Gym, Barone and her co-driver Jenny Thayer will speak to UW-Madison students who are interested in becoming the next generation of Wienermobile drivers.
Thayer said she never thought she would be a Wienermobile driver one year ago, but after graduating from UW-Madison with a degree in English and creative studies she saw the opportunity to drive the Wienermobile and could not refuse the offer.
'At first I thought 'I've gone to college for four years to do this''? she said. 'But then I realized that these kinds of experiences only come along once.'
After an intense two-week training course involving media relations, marketing and, of course, driving the Wienermobile, Thayer took off across the United States in a giant hot dog.
One year later, both Thayer and Barone have navigated almost every kind of terrain, been mobbed by hungry animals and have become accustomed to having celebrity-like status everywhere they go.
'People remember the Wienermobile from when they were kids,' Barone said. 'They remember the Wiener-whistles, the hot dogs and all the memories associated with it.'
Thayer and Barone said they have gained professionally from their experiences as well.
'The marketing and PR training you get out of this are just amazing,' Thayer said. 'It seems like a joke, but this is highly regarded in the professional world.'
Both women said they look forward to interviewing hopeful 'Hotdoggers' and encouraged all graduating hopefuls to bring a resume to the proceedings. Of course, anyone who wants a free ride to the interview is more than welcome to hop aboard the Wienermobile ?? if you don't mind the stares.
