The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile is rolling through Lakewood Ranch this week—and we at Sarasota Magazine were lucky enough to have the truck to make a special visit to our HQ in The Rosemary District.

Cooper Albert and Kaitlyn Goldstein—a.k.a "Coop Dawg" and "CornDog Kait," as they're known in the Oscar Mayer-verse—are the wienermobile's ambassadors. The Oscar Mayer team calls them "hot doggers." Albert and Goldstein are one of just six pairs of hot doggers who travel the country spreading joy and distributing wiener whistles to everyone they meet—or should we say "meat?" (Interestingly, the wienermobile doesn't serve hot dogs.)

“We competed against 7,000 other applicants to get this job," Albert says. "Oscar Mayer’s team narrowed it down over a four-month period from 7,000 hot dog people to us 12 hot doggers. We’ll drive around for a year before becoming expired meat that's replaced by the next batch of hot doggers. I’ll probably just retire because you can’t top this job.”

He says that all applicants need is a clean driving record and a recent college degree. They don't need a special commercial driver's license, but they do need a special HDL—hotdog driver's license. 

“Also, a willingness to grab life by the buns,” he cracks.

Albert and Goldstein represent the Southeast region of the U.S. and say they’re loving the warm weather here in Sarasota—especially since they're both originally from Wisconsin. 

“Boy, the people there are great down here," Albert says. "They’re smiling, they're tan. It's a great time."

Goldstein says that the entire purpose of the wienermobile is to make people happy. All she cares about is that the crowds who gather around the unmissable truck have fun.

“The reactions are awesome,” she says. “It's like we're celebrities driving around. The wienermobile is such an American icon. People are always shocked and thrilled to see us.”

We were just as thrilled when the shiny wienermobile pulled up to Sarasota Magazine HQ in the Rosemary District. Albert and Goldstein bestowed nicknames on everyone who greeted them, including "Queso Cooper" for our editor-in-chief Cooper Levey-Baker, "Deli Dan" for our publisher Dan Starostecki, and "Lunchmeat Lauren" for this writer. I’ll carry this nickname with me for eternity—seeing the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was one of my bucket list items.

Inside the wienermobile, '90s-style carpeting simultaneously meshes and clashes with Oscar Mayer's mustard-yellow upholstery. The floor is painted ketchup-red with a squiggle of mustard running down the center. (Albert jokes that it’s a spill because Goldstein is a messy eater.) The roof, meanwhile, is painted like the sky because, Goldstein says, “The sun is always shining in the wienermobile.”

If you’d like to catch a photo opp with the wienermobile and grab yourself a wiener whistle (exclusively available at wienermobile meet-and-greets), you can find the truck at the Publix Jingle 5k race on Lakewood Ranch’s Main Street tomorrow, Dec. 13, from 4:30-8 p.m. 

If you’d like to follow Albert and Goldstein during their year-long wiener journey, find them on Instagram at @om_coopdawg and @om_corndogkait.