If you follow sports closely, or the world of competitive hot dog eating casually, you likely know the name Takeru Kobayashi. You may not know the name Hofmann Hot Dogs. The two are joining forces to take a local central New York hot dog brand national.
The Japanese wunderkind won six straight 4th of July Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contests in the early 2000's and shot to worldwide stardom. He also once attempted to defeat a bear in a hot dog eating contest on Fox. But, in recent years, Kobayashi's supernova has faded. He's been surpassed by American Joey Chestnut as the top competitive eater in the world and had a series of ugly disputes that has tainted the sanctity of competitive eating.
Perhaps that's why it makes sense for Kobayashi to team with a national unknown and build from the ground up. Hofmann is a central New York company seeking to go national with the most ecclectic team of investors you'll ever see. Kobayashi, Roger Staubach, Jim Boeheim, the founder of Fuddruckers, and the Oneida Indian Nation are all involved in taking Hofmann nationwide. Seriously.
Kobayashi is the centerpiece as a business partner and promoter. As part of the deal with Hofmann, Kobayashi will even get his own brand of hot dog. This new Hofmann spot is rather low key, featuring Kobayashi constantly eating hot dogs during his every day life. I'm just relieved he doesn't dip his bun in a cup of water in real life. That's just gross.
Now if only Joey Chestnut would sing the Oscar Meyer song, then we'd have an ad war for the ages!
