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Would you like sauce with that?

We all know the anatomy of a classic hot dog: bun, sausage, relish, mustard and ketchup. But when it comes to Chicagoans, ketchup on a hotdog is like oil on water. So Heinz has ‘invented’ a brand new sauce tailored just for the taste buds of those from America’s windiest city.

While the absence of ketchup on this fast food staple seems ridiculous to most of us on this side of the world, ketchup is apparently a condiment of controversy in Chicago.

“There is no other condiment that defines identity the way ketchup does,” says one Chicago literature professor/ketchup expert. “It’s silly, but it opens up a lot of historical questions and a lot of questions about food culture and popular culture.”

“Raw vs. grilled onions. Nobody cares. Ketchup on your hot dog is the end of the world.”

And as the video by Heinz shows, the matter is certainly no joke. 

“We’re going there, huh?” one man menacingly questions. “Alright, well, let’s go there. We’re talking about ketchup”.

Obviously, this is a problem for a company like Heinz who’s crown jewel is the tomato-based sauce itself. So in order to work around Chicagoans stubborn sense of identity and pride, it’s created a brand new product called ‘Chicago Dog Sauce’ which is basically—you guessed it—ketchup in disguise. 

While some react to the revelation with a mixture of shock and anger (one woman yells “We’ve been duped!” before throwing the finger at the camera), others find themselves warming to the concept, with one man remarking that “it actually makes it better” while another explains it won’t make him stop eating the hotdog because he’s “not a psychopath”

The stunt was timed to coincide with National Hot Dog Day on Tuesday, with Chicago Dog sauce being put to the test with product sampling throughout the Chicago area. For those wanting to get their hands of this so-called ‘limited edition’ sauce themselves, they can purchase a bottle or two at chicagodogsauce.com. 

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