The annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest started as a publicity stunt promoting Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs. But it wasn’t the first successful marketing gimmick hatched by the company.
When co-founder Nathan Handwerker launched into the hot dog business with his wife in 1916, he set his price for a hot dog at five cents. Competitors were selling theirs at ten cents, creating the impression that Nathan’s food was low quality.
To change public perception, Nathan hired ordinary people—dressed them up in white coats and stethoscopes—and instructed them to eat hot dogs while stationed in front of his stand.
Hungry passers-by would see these ‘doctors’ munching on Nathan’s five-cent hot dogs and figured the cheap hot dogs must be healthy. Business boomed shortly afterwards.
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