• by Karl Greenberg , July 3, 2008

If there were such a thing as National Hot Dog Month, July would be it. Well, there is. And it is. There is also a National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. The council is promoting that staple of Independence Day with "Hot Dog City," a new web site at Hot-Dog.org, and a hot dog video channel on YouTube, at YouTube.com/hotdogcouncil.

On the Web site, gussied up to look like a town's main street, one can get listings of hot dog makers who also happen to mail franks anywhere in the U.S. There are also guide to hot dog recipes, a listing of famed hot dog restaurants in the U.S., and a brief history of the hot dog.

The site links to the YouTube clips of films with famous scenes in which hot dogs are featured. The channel also has a humorous series of videos on hot dog eating etiquette, and on how hot dogs are made. The real attractions are the dozens of hot dog-centric cinematic clips like the scene from "Dirty Harry" in which the Clint Eastwood character inhales a hot dog while thwarting a bank robbery.

Janet Riley, president of the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, who also goes by the unofficial title "Queen of Wien," says this is not the first time the council, a division of the American Meat Institute, has done seasonal campaigns, but it is the most digitized. "We have celebrated National Hot Dog month since 1957, " she says. "But this year, we have a new Web site and video channel."

She says the category is strong. "It has been very steady, and sausages in particular have trended upward because they are convenient, have a variety of seasonings and spices, and are an 'eat-on-the-go' food. These are major drivers."

She adds that Memorial Day through Labor Day is peak season because "it's grilling season, and baseball season."

The council predicts Americans will consume some 20 billion hot dogs this year -- seven billion between Memorial Day and Labor Day. More if that Japanese kid breaks the hot-dog-eating record at Coney Island again this year.