There’s a scene in Dirty Harry where Clint Eastwood berates his partner for doing the sin of sins — putting ketchup on his hotdog.
“Nobody puts ketchup on a hotdog,” is a truism shared by every true hotdog-eating, Cubs and Whitesox loving/hating Chicagoan.
But what about “Dog Sauce?”
Just in time for #NationalHotDogDay, Heinz has unveiled a Dog Sauce exclusively for Chicagoans.
Ingredients of the Dog Sauce include red ripe tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt, and a blend of spices and flavorings.
Yeah… Ketchup. Suckas.
The entire campaign is a classic misdirect, which leads to humorous reactions from a variety of tasters, first in their enjoyment of it and later in their F-bomb-laced realization.
Optimus, known for serving up a tasty hot dog or five hundred at their popular block parties, handled the lightning-fast post-production turnaround with Randy Palmer cutting.
According to Palmer, he and assistant Mark Czajkowski spent the day at Wrigleyville dogs, loading and screening footage on set. They rushed back to Optimus while the crew moved to Kim & Carlos, loading and screening over 18 hours of footage Saturday night, while two other assistants transcribed it.
“It was such a great idea, but I was worried that it would end with punches being thrown,” confessed Palmer. “While Chicagoans mostly stuck to their dogma, all but one was happy to finish their dogs, even after learning the truth.”
“Unexpectedly, this served as a confessional for many who could finally speak the name of their forbidden love: ketchup,” he continued. “As for me, I did not try it, but I did buy a bottle for my kids.”
Color correction was handled by their in-house company, Nice Shoes and the bouncy score was created by Earhole.
The brand hopes that hot dog aficionados will consider topping their classic Chicago dog off with yellow mustard, chopped onions, sweet pickle relish, dill pickle spear, tomato slices, pickled sport peppers, a dash of celery salt and Heinz Ketchup.
“Chicago Dog Sauce” will be available for a limited time at the suggested retail price of $5 plus shipping & handling at chicagodogsauce.com. The product launch will be supported by an integrated campaign including print and out of home advertising as well as product sampling throughout the Chicago area.
At this time, it is not known if they should be praised or ostracized for aiding such, “blasphemy.”
CREDITS — Dog Sauce
Client: Heinz
Vice President of Marketing: Michelle St Jacques
Director, Brand Build: Nicole Kulwicki
Agency: Alison Brod Marketing + Communications
Agency: Starcomm
Agency: PureRED | Ferrara
Agency: David Miami
Chief Creative Officer, Founder: Anselmo Ramos
Managing Director: Paulo Fogaça
Creative Director: Tony Kalathara
Associate Creative Director: Jason Wolske
Associate Creative Director: Danny Alvarez
Art Director: Curtis Caja
Copywriter: Dan Flora
Group Account Director: Michelle Cobas
Director of Strategic Planning: Jon Carlaw
Head of Global Production: Veronica Beach
Producer: Carlos Torres
Associate Producer: Marina Rodrigues
Business Manager: Barbara Karalis
Production Company: The Reserve Label
Director: Jacob Rosenberg
Executive Producer: Ryan Slavin
Producer: Ari Palitz
Post Production: Optimus
Executive Producer: Brian Hrastar
Editor: Randy Palmer
Assistant Editor: Mark Czajkowski
Jr. Assistant Editors: Allie Fohrman and Connor Luczak
Audio Engineer: Marina Bacci
Assistant Audio Engineer: Zach Scheitlin
Flame Artists: Jim Moss and Glen Noren
Music: Earhole Studios
Producer: Adam Weibe
Color: Nice Shoes
Colorist: Ron Sudul
Color Assist: Alex Frankland
Follow Colin Costello on Twitter @colincostello10.
