When a media report surface Tuesday of Oscar Mayer’s potential interest in purchasing the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle, Collinsville hearts were set aflutter.
Thoughts of dousing their Oscar Mayer hotdogs with horseradish sauce and Brooks Tangy Catsup, all with a Collinsville connection, began dancing in the heads of those living in the lengthy shadow of the 170-foot water tower. The report, however, may have been a bit premature.
The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile admiring The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle / Photo courtesy of Oscar Mayer
What started out as a fun public relations opportunity turned into a misunderstanding as big as Collinsville’s beloved roadside attraction.
A statement and photo was released from Oscar Mayer indicating that it is aware that the catsup bottle is for sale, and hinting at an interest in buying it.
“Oscar Mayer heard that the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle was for sale, so we just had to send out the Wienermobile to check it out. With six large hot dogs on wheels traveling across the country all year, we could use a worthy condiment,” the statement read. The Wienermobile was in Collinsville for the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle Festival on July 13, before the sign announcing the sale was placed at the feet of the bottle.
But Oscar Mayer is not ready to comment on their interest in the water tower and have not contacted the bottle’s owner, Bethel-Eckert Enterprises Inc. Larry Eckert, co-owner of Bethel-Eckert, said his only contact with any company representative was for permission to use an image of the Wienermobile with the catsup bottle in the background.
However, a media report surfaced Tuesday quoting a spokesperson saying both parties were excited about the possibility of a purchase. When contacted by The Metro Independent, a different Oscar Meyer spokesperson said the company would not comment further than the initial press release. The quote was later removed from the story.
The Big Tomato, Mike Gassmann, President and CEO of the non-profit World’s Largest Catsup Bottle Inc., was a bit crestfallen when he learned that the reports of the hotdog and catsup combination may have been premature.
“We would relish a benevolent ownership from Oscar Mayer, but if it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be,” Gassmann said. “It mayo may not happen. We love each other, but they just may leave us in a pickle.”
