Hot Dog Makers Have Beef

Careful what you say about Sara Lee’s wieners. Seriously.

Sara Lee, who makes Ball Park Franks ---the ones that plump when you cook ‘em ---, is suing Oscar Mayer for slandering their sausages.

In a law suit filed in a Chicago court Sara Lee alleges that an advertisement by its competitor falsely claims that just one of its Jumbo Beef Franks beat every other dog in taste tests. But a section of the ad, which ran in USA Today, say "in very small type," that Oscar Mayer compared its hot dogs to "the leading beef franks" of its main rivals, and makes no mention of other types of meats --- such as chicken lips and pig tails, if you believe that rumor.

The suit actually addresses that legend, sort of. It goes on to say that Oscar Mayer's claim that the dogs in question are "100 percent pure beef" is false because they contain a host of other ingredients.

"We stand by our reputation for accurate advertising," Kraft Foods spokeswoman Syd Lindner said in a statement. The company declined a request by the Chicago Tribune for further frank discussion because it hadn’t seen the lawsuit.
 

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