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Name: Matthew Mitchell
Degree and Year: BJ '07
Title: Hotdogger
Company: Oscar Mayer
Web Site: http://brands.kraftfoods.com/oscarmayer
City and State: Madison, Wis.
Matthew Mitchell, BJ '07. Photo courtesy Oscar Mayer.
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Hotdogger Relishes Sweet Ride
by Jim Memmott
Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle
Republished with permission.
Rochester, N.Y. (June 23, 2007) -- Hot dog, Matthew Mitchell is on a roll.
Actually, to be precise, he's in a roll.
Twenty-three years old, a freshly-minted graduate of the University of Missouri, the Rochester resident has hit the road as an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile driver, a so-called "hotdogger." As a hotdogger, he's driving one of six 27-foot long vehicles that are, essentially, large hot dogs on wheels.
He'll travel to state fairs, county fairs and festivals to listen to thousands of people sing Oscar Mayer Wiener jingles, as part of a nationwide "Sing the Jingle, Be a Star." Winners get a spot in an Oscar Mayer commercial as well as a trip to the next American Idol finale.
Mitchell has other duties, too, everything from setting up at each stop to making ceremonial visits with the Wienermobile. "You have to wear many hats along the Hot Dog Highway," Mitchell says.
The McQuaid Jesuit High School graduate (class of 2003) and son of Rosemary and Joseph Mitchell was but one of 12 people chosen to be a hotdogger from among 1,200 applicants. During the interview process, he had to answer some of the usual questions, such as, "Name a time when you had to break bad news."
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And he also was asked to articulate his own hot dog history. That was a pitch the former Rochester Red Wings bat boy could hit.
"I'm a big fan of barbecues," he says. "And my memories are of eating two, three and four hot dogs at a time." Mitchell allows that some of those hot dogs were Zwiegle's, the made-in-Rochester favorite.
"They have a special place in my life," he says.
But a lot of the wieners were Oscar Mayers, as well. Once hotdoggers are chosen, they gather at Oscar Mayer headquarters in Madison, Wis., where they undergo two weeks of training at Hot Dog High.
Mitchell finished his training a week ago and has been with the Wienermobile in the Washington, D.C., area this week. Today and tomorrow, he's at the Barbeque Battle in Washington. Last year, the event drew 100,000 people. "It's the biggest thing we'll do all year, and we're doing it in our first week," Mitchell says.
At Hot Dog High, Mitchell and the other hotdoggers were made familiar with every imaginable hot-dog pun. ("Want a job you can really relish?" reads the Web site info on hotdoggers. "Do you have an appetite for adventure? ... Read on for all the juicy details.") The hotdoggers also got 40 hours of training on the Wienermobile under the supervision of the Madison police.
In addition, they're schooled in media and public relations, something that plays to Mitchell's strengths, as he graduated from Missouri with a journalism degree with an emphasis in strategic communication. On the road, Mitchell is partnered with Stephanie Geidel, 23, a graduate of Elmira College and the State University College at Cortland.
They'll work the East for the first six months, though Mitchell doesn't know if they'll stop in Rochester. Mitchell's parents, who have two other children, have no doubt that Matthew will do well as an ambassador for Oscar Mayer.
"There are no strangers to Matthew, only friends he hasn't met," says Rosemary Mitchell, the former head of the Women's Foundation here who is now interim vice president for seminary relations and director of development at the Princeton Theological Seminary. Hotdoggers have gone on to great things after their year on the road, adds Joseph Mitchell, a Rochester lawyer.
That's not surprising, says his son: "People want to interview you if your résumé says Oscar Mayer hotdogger." He's interested in working in the media, radio or television, but right now, he's happy where he is.
"This is the best job I've ever had, the best job I will ever have," he says. "I'm treated like a celebrity everywhere I go."
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