Some restaurants refuse to serve ketchup. In Chicago, it's even a tradition to tease people who enjoy ketchup on their hot dogs.
"The history of the Chicago-style hot dog never included that. Tomatoes are already on the hot dog, which is a more natural form of that vegetable, anyway," Tom McGlade, a onetime spokesperson for Vienna Beef has said. "Just the combination of sweet and salty, cold and hot [on a Chicago dog], we believe it's the perfect combination — and ketchup is not one of the ingredients we put on them."
Ketchup maker Heinz disagrees. So the company is installing ketchup kiosks outside of certain anti-ketchup restaurants, including the Wieners Circle, an iconic Chicago hot dog stand.
Block Club Chicago reports that "Passersby will be able to smack a ketchup bottle attached to the boards, and packets of Heinz ketchup will fall out, according to a Heinz news release."
"Heinz is known for crafty campaigns to get Chicagoans to eat ketchup. In 2017, it introduced "Chicago Dog Sauce" — which looked, smelled and tasted just like ketchup — for that year's National Hot Dog Day."
