Oscar Mayer’s ‘Hot Dogs for Legs’ ads satirize viral internet trend
Is it hot girl summer, or is it actually hot dog summer? The deli meat brand aims to reclaim a summertime social media spectacle with its ‘Hot Dogs for Legs’ campaign.
Oscar Mayer recreates a common sighting on social media in the summer / Credit: Oscar Mayer
Every summer, social feeds are filled with photos of tanned legs sitting out poolside or by the beach. These pictures are often angled in a way that makes it hard to tell whether the photo depicts hot dogs on a plate or someone’s legs.
As “hot dogs or legs” surpasses 9.1 bn views on TikTok, a new campaign, ‘#HotDogsForLegs,’ from hot dog brand Oscar Mayer aims to settle the internet dispute for good.
The campaign debuts social media scenes depicting real hot dogs in the place of human legs across social media and billboards in Huntington Beach, Los Angeles and Chicago, followed by mobile boat billboards traversing the Miami and Fort Lauderdale coasts.
Later this month, the brand says it will be scouring social media to roll out additional creative featuring real imagery of fans’ “hot dog legs.”
“Oscar Mayer is excited to finally give the #HotDogsOrLegs debate the spotlight it deserves,” said Kelsey Rice, associate director of Oscar Mayer brand communications. “A natural extension of our ‘Keep it Oscar’ brand program, this activation brings the fun of Oscar Mayer to life-celebrating legs that look like hot dogs and Oscar Mayer's delicious meats.”
The campaign was developed by creative agency Johannes Leonardo, with additional support from P57, The Kitchen and Zeno Group.
“For more than a decade, every summer, legs that look suspiciously like hot hot dogs have shown up on everybody’s social feed, obscuring otherwise picturesque views,” added Nathan Frank, group creative director at Johannes Leonardo “This summer, Oscar Mayer is proving once and for all that Hot Dog Legs will eternally be considered Oscar Mayer.”