As American As Hot Dogs & Apple Pie

By Mark Giles, All Access

I've seen the imaging since I was a little boy.

Pictures of folks at the ballpark enjoying a hot dog.

Picnics, parades, carnivals....anytime you're somewhere having fun, it's even MORE fun with a hot dog, right?

Squirt some mustard on there, slap a little relish, maybe garnish with some onions, cheese and chili.

Mmmm, mmmm good! (oh, wait, that's a product for ANOTHER week)

I remember a jingle that made it's way into the vernacular back in the 60's & 70's....sing it with me if you know it...

"Hot Dogs! Armour Hot Dogs! What kind of kids eat Armour Hot Dogs? Fat kids, skinny kids...kids that climb on rocks! Tough kids, sissy kids (wouldn't get away with THAT one THESE days), even kids with chicken pox!"

And so on....folks went around espousing the wonders and beauty of hot dogs! Singing in unison! "Hey, I know that song!"

But that was before we had these world wide interweb google machines.

Now we can conduct a massive global search with the click of a few random key strokes.

Wanna see how many bojangles are on a class A tambourine? The answer is yours!

Want to know exactly what goes into making a hot dog?

Take a peek, and see for yourself.

But be forwarned....your hot dog eating days may be numbered.

Hot dog, anyone? Anyone??? Not so much right now, eh? Not too hungry?

I feel you.

I wonder if sometimes we come across like that in our efforts to brand ourselves.

Is it possible that we have bought into a story in which we may not have all the facts?

"As American as hot dogs and apple pie."

After watching the above video, I'm not convinced that hot dogs are all that American.

Or at least they definitely aren't what I want to point to as the first evidence of my patriotism.

Maybe we should reevaluate our slogans, and make sure we aren't broadcasting an obscure message.

Are we saying what we're saying because its meaningful, on mission, and describes who we are?

Or are we regurgitating a jingle that's been so burnt into our memory that we've lost our objectivity?

What kind of kids like what YOU are selling?

And what are you doing to cause them to want to line up and get a taste?

Are they singing YOUR song?

Why not?