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CHICAGO – It looks a bit like the giant monolith from the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.” But in reality, it’s a giant ketchup dispenser, and it’s here to change the way humanity thinks about condiments.
Ketchup giant Heinz placed its ketchup at this location on Navy Pier in downtown Chicago, trying to instill in Chicagoans the idea that putting ketchup on hot dogs isn’t such a bad thing. Chicago has steadfastly avoided ketchup on hot dogs for centuries, and Heinz is turning the city red with ketchup appreciation.
For some in the Windy City, this message hasn’t sunk in.
Mari Zavala, from Chicago’s South Side, looked up to see a glowing red giant clapping his hands and spitting out a bag of ketchup. “When you’re adding ketchup, you’re a weirdo,” says the 22-year-old, who until recently worked at nearby iconic sandwich shop Rico Bene’s.
But that’s exactly the attitude Heinz is attacking in Chicago, preaching ketchup as if it were a constitutional right. A video posted prominently at the top of the Heinz Company’s website shows a ketchup dispenser over 7 feet tall, with messages such as “Some restaurants are refusing to serve Heinz” and “We We have a solution for you.” messages are flashing across the screen.
“We’ll serve Heinz where it’s not served,” reads another message, showing a man who appears to be a Chicagoan devouring a hot dog slathered in ketchup.
The company is testing monolith dispensers as a response to Chicago restaurants refusing to serve them. Anti-ketchup attitudes run deep in this city. From Barack Obama to the man on the street, Chicagoans are known for hating ketchup on their hot dogs.
Heinz, which sells 650 million bottles of red sauce a year, says it wants to help ketchup lovers.
“People get really frustrated when they’re stuck in a restaurant without ketchup,” Megan Lang, a spokeswoman for Heinz, who called Chicago a “ketchup disaster,” told USA TODAY that the idea of hand smack dispensers was a no brainer. He said that he was born after hearing this. ‘Frustration and sadness’ from Heinz faithful who couldn’t find ketchup in Chicago.
“This inspired us to think about how we could turn the symbolic bottle-hitting behavior into a way to address their frustrations,” Lang said. “We felt it necessary to challenge Chicago on this accusation.”
Or maybe it’s the land of seasonings.
Two weeks ago, Heinz set up a ketchup stand near hot dog stands, restaurants, and a place where many passersby, including tourists and local residents, gather. This is a short-term trial, in fact, the stand’s last day is Saturday, but Heinz says it may be revived for future efforts in Chicago and elsewhere. .
In most U.S. cities, ketchup is splattered everywhere. But ketchup on Chicago hot dogs raises red flags. Local reporters also asked the mayoral candidates their stance on the issue, and Mayor Brandon Johnson, with a straight face, called the habit of putting ketchup on hot dogs a “sin.”
drawn line. . . In ketchup?
Chicagoans generally take pride in dressing their dogs on poppy seed bread with condiments like mustard, neon green relish, onions, tomatoes, pickle spears, sport peppers, and celery salt. But usually there is not a single drop of red.
Chicago dog dressing is one of many in the county. But Chicagoans are so conscious that ketchup sales have declined, falling 20% below the national average, according to data provided by Heinz.
The Heinz Stand at Navy Pier is located in one of the city’s most popular tourist destinations on the shores of Lake Michigan. It consists of an overturned bottle in the center of a red display board. Above it were instructions: “Slap Heinz.” Such an impact causes ketchup packets to fall out of a vending machine like candy.
On a recent day, many in the stands reacted with shock and horror.
“It’s wrong, and it’s wrong for dogs,” said Kathy LaShea, from Chicago.
There is also precedent for anti-ketchup nationwide. The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, which was founded by the American Meat Institute and serves as a resource for consumers with questions about the quality, safety, and nutrition of hot dogs and sausages, provides this information in its online Etiquette Guide. dealing with the problem. ”
The Hot Dog Council advises, “Do not use ketchup on hot dogs if you are over 18 years old.” “Mustard, relish, onions, cheese and chili are acceptable.”
Tourists don’t mind the ketchup monolith
Not all Chicago residents are against the ketchup and hot dog union.
North Dakota natives Jaelynn Baisch and Miria Fornes were visiting Chicago when they spotted a shiny ketchup stand and lit up as if they had met an old friend. Like salmon in Alaska, ketchup is flowing in Fargo, the two say.
“You can use as much ketchup as humanly possible,” says Fornes, 26.
Two medical students were surprised to learn that in Chicago, adding ketchup can earn you a scarlet letter.
“Oops, I came to the wrong place because I love ketchup,” said Baishu, 23.
Frankly, Chicago is not alone
The Hot Dog Council says other parts of the U.S. avoid putting ketchup on dogs.
Steamed onions and yellow mustard are popular in New York City. In the Southwest, Sonoran dogs are wrapped in bacon and topped with pinto beans, grilled onions, green peppers, and fresh tomatoes. Michigan’s Coney Island dogs are topped with chili, according to the Council on Regional Style’s list.
But nowhere is the hostility toward ketchup more evident than in Chicago. It continues all the way to the top.
In 2016, Anthony Bourdain asked President Barack Obama on his show “Parts Unknown” if ketchup was allowed on hot dogs.
“No,” said the president, who called Chicago home. “I’m telling you, after the age of eight, that’s not acceptable.”
Chicago’s ketchup consumption is below average
Heinz stands have been relocated to several locations around the city. He first appeared outside a hot dog stand on the North Side and was later relocated to Navy Pier.
Chicago’s disdain for ketchup is such that it is “about 20 percent below the national average in ketchup consumption,” although the city’s preference for mustard, also made by Heinz, partially makes up for that shortfall. Heinz said.
Knoxville, Tennessee. Syracuse, New York. Heinz reports that people in Orlando, Florida, consume a disproportionate amount of ketchup.
Heinz said Chicago residents and tourists have knocked about 100 bottles of ketchup off the stand in recent weeks.
fooled by ketchup
Bobby Trice, a line cook at Weiner’s Circle, the iconic North Side stand where Heinz opened last week, said Chicago’s attitude toward ketchup goes back decades.
“They had a lot of rotting meat, and for you to eat it, they put ketchup on it,” he explained, waving to a bygone era.
He said its sweetness overcame any bad taste. “When you put ketchup on it, you can’t taste anything else.”
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Heinz first started bottling ketchup in 1876, just a few years before German immigrants popularized the hot dog at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York.
Trice, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, said she grew up eating ketchup but became a convert after moving to Chicago.
“I thought it was all a show, but it wasn’t,” he said. “This is serious.”
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