• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, April 23, 2020

While advertising in the restaurant category has taken a hit during the pandemic, Wienerschnitzel, which bills itself as “The World’s Largest Hot Dog Chain,” with sales of over 120 million hot dogs annually, is breaking a new broadcast campaign on Monday.

The work is the first from its new ad agency Innocean, which won the account last fall.

The chain has more than 300 drive-thru restaurants in mostly Western states.  

The campaign takes a comedic tone that celebrates the chain’s "World of Wieners” limited menu offerings (including Cuban, German and Aussie-style dogs) and introduces "The Delicious Crew," who will serve as ongoing spokespeople for the brand.

Innocean is mainly known for its work in the auto category (Hyundai/Kia) but it’s been branching out of late and the Wienerschnitzel effort is one of the agency’s first broadcast campaigns outside of the auto category.

In any event, it’s nice to see some fresh work in a struggling category.