Optimus trolls Chicagoans with Heinz “Dog Sauce”

“Dog Sauce”

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.

“Dog Sauce”

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.