Growing up, he had a forbidden love for hotdogs. Now Trey O’Shea is one of 12 “Hotdoggers” driving around the country in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.
O’Shea, known professionally as Tailgate Trey, tells the tale of a “subpar” hot dog his mom once ate (she got food poisoning), prompting her to banish the food from that day forward and forcing O’Shea to indulge in his love for hot dogs in secret.
“My journey to the Wienermobile is a little more nuanced maybe than most people,” O’Shea said. “They sold hot dogs in the lunch line, and I would buy a hot dog secretly…” which he kept hidden from his mother. “I was able to turn my forbidden, secret love for hotdogs into something to spread the love and joy that I found.”
Hotdogger Raena Sinclair, known as Relish Raena, says the hot dog life chose her. She calls the vehicle an icon of positivity and joy, which aligns with her goal to help people have fun and brighten up their days. Together, her and O’Shea’s full-time job is to travel around the South and promote the Oscar Mayer brand.
This week, they’re making a pit stop in Tulsa. From Thursday to Sunday the Wienermobile will be at various Reasor’s locations, Maxwell Park Library, the Safety Spooktacular and the Nut House. You can find the nearest event to you at the locator map here.
The Hotdogger program has been around since 1988, but the Wienermobile itself dates back to1936. A new cohort of drivers — 12 out of thousands of applicants — is selected each year. All of them are recent college graduates. They earn a salary, along with a weekly stipend for meals and other travel expenses. All hotel costs are paid for too.
The Flyer’s Libby Hobbs asked these Hotdoggers a few questions during their time in Tulsa and took a tour of the Wienermobile. This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
Libby Hobbs: You guys don’t actually serve hot dogs. Why is that?
Relish Raena: No, we are not a food truck, just a truck that looks like food. What makes the Wienermobile so special is we do have our own special type of hot dogs — we have wiener whistles. You can only get them at the Wienermobile.
Tailgate Trey: I think it’s important that we’re never selling anything. The Wienermobile is always a free service when you see it. It’s for the people, it’s ultimately for you to make your day better, and part of that comes with never selling anything.
LH: Have you ever had to parallel park the Wienermobile?
TT: That’s the beauty of having two drivers, one person can get out and be your spotter. No back up camera in the wienermobile, we’re each other’s back-up camera. We’ve parked in some pretty surprising places.
RR: Before we hit the road, we go to “Hot Dog High” where we both receive our “bundergraduate” degrees. That comes with a lot of driving training, but we also do a lot of marketing training and learn the ins and outs of the hotdog lifestyle. So, that was one of my favorite experiences was “Hot Dog High.” You get to hangout with all the other Hotdoggers.
LH: Do you have to get a special license to drive the Wienermobile?
RR: No, not at all. We like to say we have our HDLs: Hot Dog License. You do not need a CDL to drive the Wienermobile. We are [Department of Transportation] compliant, we do go into weight stations. We have driving logs that we track all of our miles and everything. But no special license.
LH: How much are you paying in gas to fuel the Wienermobile?
TT: We like to say that this thing gets great smiles per gallon — that’s the best part of it. It has a pretty big gas tank but it takes regular 87. A big vehicle like this, we have to fill up probably on road trips once every two to three hours. Fuel is definitely a cost of the job, but it’s just the nature of a job like this. But it’s priceless.
LH: Have there ever been any close calls? Have you ever almost crashed the Wienermobile?
RR: The thing with having two drivers is you have four eyes on the road. Really, nothing gets past us. Hotdoggers really value being the safest drivers on the road. So, maybe going a little slower just to be sure. But that also allows people to get more looks at the Wienermobile.
TT: I know you guys are very familiar with the concept of “Tulsa Time.” We like to live on Hotdogger time. We’re never in a rush to get anywhere, we’re very safe. We get really great training on how to drive the vehicle.
LH: What’s your go-to road trip song in the Wienermobile?
TT: I like to start off every road trip with “Truckin” by the Grateful Dead. It just kinda gets me in the vibe, I feel like I’m ready to tackle the road.
RR: Even though we are not speedy weenies, what gets me in the drivetime vibe is “Vroom Vroom” by Charli XCX.
LH: What’s your favorite part of being a Hotdogger or favorite event?
TT: Favorite part has got to be the reactions of other people. It’s so gratifying to just make someone’s day brighter. You can visibly see it when somebody has that change of emotion, that smile. There’s no words to describe how great that feels.
RR: Right now, obviously in October, Spooky Season, we do a lot of fall festivals and Oktoberfests. Those are just always so much fun. People come up dressed as hot dogs and maybe they have a Wiener dog with them. The vibes are just always great when you’re around the Wienermobile. I cannot complain about this job, and I’m one lucky dog to drive the Wienermobile.
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